Close Enough To Normal
by gleeme33
Summary: Rachel has had a year of a lifetime, performing as Natalie Goodman in the renown musical Next To Normal. Now, with the summer off, Rachel goes 'home' to Lima and must learn to live her teenage years as closely to normal as she can. Finchel.
1. Author's Note, Full Summary and Prolog

_Author's Note_

So, I got this story idea from two different places: first from my current story _Rachel Berry's Broadway Video Diary_. Second, from watching a new interview with Jennifer Damiano. For those of you who don't know who she is, she's a Broadway actress who originated the role of Natalie Goodman in _Next To Normal_. When she originated Natalie, she was only sixteen, and then nominated at seventeen. Now she's twenty, and currently plays Mary Jane Watson in _Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark_. The interview was mainly about _Spider-man_, but the interviewer said something about her working on _Next To Normal _so young, and she said that between Off-Broadway and Broadway, she had a "great, normal summer". Then the interviewer said something like:

"I heard you had multiple panic attacks and mental break-downs backstage [during _Next To Normal_]."

She answered with something like this:

"There was a lot going on…I was just so young…and growing up through this role, through Natalie, it was just this trip…I'd hang out with my friends that I used to hang out with and I'd feel this, this weird separation between us – between me and them…I felt like 'I've become so weird!' I felt like I almost couldn't communicate about the same stuff. During _Next to Normal_…it was just this family, telling this really, really dark story, and then it really hit me – the intensity of what we were doing on that stage…"

So, here's Rachel doing exactly that, as she tries to re-connect with her friends and especially Finn. Finchel – _very _Finchel. :) Thanks and enjoy.

_Full Summary_

At sixteen and Tony nominated, Rachel Barbra Berry has had the year of a lifetime. While most girls her age were getting their first real boyfriends, or dealing with teenage drama, she was preforming as Natalie Goodman, a featured role in the Pulitzer Prize winning musical, _Next To Normal_. This coming year, they're to be promoted to the Booth Theater on Broadway, from the shows they were doing at an Off-Broadway theater. In the transition, the performers have the summer off. Follow Rachel as she learns that sometimes, life shouldn't imitate art.

_Couples_

Finchel, Quick, Wemma, Brittana, Klaine, and more may come in later.

_Friendships _

Rachel/Kurt, Quinn/Finn, Quinn/Rachel, Blaine/Finn, Blaine/Rachel, and more may come in later.

_Prolog_

"Dad…" Rachel said her line to start the closing song of the show. Bobby, in character as Dan, looked up at her. "What's going on? Where's Mom? Why – why are all the lights off?"

"Natalie…" He sighed, and shook his head. "She's…she's gone, Natalie. She's…"

"Gone," Rachel finished the line perfectly, just like the script said.

"Yes, Natalie," Bobby turned and looked at Rachel. He paused, dramatically, and then finished by whispering the rest of the line: "Your mother is gone."

"Oh…" she said. "So…so then it's just me and you for now, huh?" The music started.

"I'm sorry, Natalie," he cried into his hands. "I'm so sorry…"

"_We need some light_…" Rachel leaned over and turned on a prop light. The spotlights lit up at the same time. She walked over to where he sat and put her arms around him as she sang:

"_First of all, we need some light._

_You can't sit here in the dark._

_And all alone, it's a sorry sight…_" She got up and brought a chair next to him, and sat down too. All the while, she was singing:

"_It's just you and me._

_We'll live, you'll see…_"

Bobby got up, Rachel following him, heading stage left. On the second level, the set-lights lit up. He sang:

"_Night after night,_

_We'd sit and wait for the morning light._

_But we've waited far too long,_

_For all that's wrong to be made right…_"

From the second level, Alice, in character as Diana, came out from the other side of the fire-pole. Holding onto it with one hand, she sang:

"_Day after day,_

_Wishing all our cares away._

_Trying to fight the things we feel,_

_But some hurts never heal._

_Some ghost are never gone,_

_But we go on,_

_We still go on._

_And you find some way to survive_

_And you find out you don't have to be happy at all,_

_To be happy you're alive!_"

"_Day after day_…" Rachel started singing as the music picked up, Adam, as Henry, entering. She took his hand, and sang to him:

"_Give me clouds, and rain and gray._

_Give me pain, if that's what's real..._"

"_It's the price we pay to feel!_" Adam sang the last line with her.

"_The price of love is loss,_

_But still we pay…_" Alice and Bobby sang.

"_We love anyway!_" Rachel and Adam finished the line. Aaron, as Gabe, appeared, finally, on the third level. He swung on one of the many fire-poles up there and sang:

"_And when the night has finally gone,_

_And when we see the new day dawn,_

_We'll wonder how we wandered for so long, so blind…_" Aaron swung down onto the second level, next to Alice, with Louis, playing Dr. Madden, on her other side. He continued to sing:

"_The wasted world we thought we knew,_

_The light will make it look brand new!_

_So…_" Everyone started harmonizing as Rachel stood center-stage, with Bobby and Adam on her right and left sides.

"_…Let it _

_Let it_

_Let it_

_Let it_

_Let it_

_Shine, shine, shine!_

_Day after day!_

_We'll find the will to find our way!_

_Knowing that the darkest skies will someday see the sun!_

_There will be light!_

_Oh, when we open up our lives,_

_Sons and daughters, husbands, wives,_

_And fight that fight!_

_There will be light._

_There will be light._

_There will be light!_

_There will be… _

_Light!_"

The lights went off, and the six cast members stood there for a few moments, ironically, in the dark. Rachel couldn't see, but she knew that Alice, Aaron and Louis had found there way to the base level of the stage by feeling the woman who played her mother squeeze her hand. Then the lights flashed back on, and it was time to bow. Louis stepped up first, the audience clapping and '_woo!_'ing for him. Next when Adam, who got a few on their feet. Then Aaron, who had all the girls screaming for him – Rachel could have sworn that one yelled "_marry me Aaron!_" or something like that.

Then it was her turn. Rachel stepped forward, into the single spotlight. Everyone clapped, and cheered, and applauded her as she took her bow. Some of the audience stood up, making Rachel smile. Then, she stepped back into the darkness, and the rush was over. Bobby stepped into the spotlight, and the people cheered for the male lead. And everyone knew what was coming next. Alice stepped into the spotlight, and the audience went crazy with applause. Everyone in the building got to their feet, cheering on the female lead. When she stepped back, all the lights come on – everyone held hands, and bowed together.

"Thank you!" Alice yelled. "We'll see you on Broadway!"

The word aloud alone made Rachel tingle inside.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

The after party.

Basically, it was the real life version of _Last Friday Night _by Katy Perry.

_Ugh_…

_Okay, _Rachel thought. _What happened last? Um…Alice and Bobby went home to their families…Louis went home to his wife and new baby boy…um…_

Aaron was on the ground, shirtless, with an empty beer bottle in his hand. Adam was…wait…where _was _Adam? Rachel staggered to her feet, feeling more then a little dizzy.

"A-Adam? Adam! Are you even still here?" Adam ran out of the bathroom, fully clothed, but drenched in water.

"That. Was. _Awesome_!" He yelled.

"What are you _on_?" Rachel yelled back.

"Well, to quote Natalie, 'I'm robo-tripping! I can't feel my legs!'"

"Ugh…" Rachel moaned. "Come on, let's wake up Aaron."

"_Duuuuude_!" Adam yelled in Aaron's ear. Aaron screamed and shot up.

"What…what happened?" He asked, rubbing his temples.

"That's what I've been thinking…" Rachel murmured.

"Whatever," Aaron shrugged. "Damn, I'm sure that was some party!"

Rachel strained her school-girl skirt and looked at the two guys in front of her. Even if they _were _in one of the most pathetic states she'd ever seen them, they were still her cast-mates…her family.

"Guys," she said, once the three of them were sitting on the couch with Ginger-ales and Advil. "I…I meant to tell you guys…" there was no easy way to say this. "I'm going home for summer."

"'Course you are, my sister!" Aaron laughed. "You want me to walk to the your apartment?"

"No, I mean…_home _home. Lima."

"_What_?" Aaron shrieked.

"But– but – but – " Adam stuttered. "How could you go back to…_Lima_? I thought you hated Lima!"

"I do hate Lima! But, I mean…I started high school with these guys, and now we're going into our _senior year_ and –"

"_We're_?"

"_You're_!" Rachel corrected. "Plus, my dads didn't give me make of a choice. Honestly, it's…it's crazy." Adam shrugged.

"Crazy is perfect," he said. Rachel laughed. There was a silence, until Aaron said:

"We'll miss you, Rach."

"Yeah," Rachel looked at floor. "I'll miss you guys too…" She shook her head. "God!" She yelled. "My life is _so_ not normal!" Realizing what she'd just set up, she yelled, "Don't sing it!" But she was too late.

"Fine," said Adam. "Then we'll _speak_ it!"

"I don't need a life that's normal," Aaron made his voice go all high to match Rachel's singing voice.

"That's way to far away," Adam did the same.

"But something next to normal could be okay," Rachel smiled, and sang the rest of her favorite line. "_Yes, something next to normal, that's the thing I'd like to try. Close enough to normal to get by…_"

"We'll get by," Aaron and Adam whispered.

"We'll get by."


	2. Welcome Home

**Here's the first real chapter :) Also, **_**Next To Normal **_**does not belong to me; it belongs to Tom Kitt and Brain Yorkey and the other writers! Natalie Goodman is not mine either, she is a character created for N2N by Mr. Kitt and Mr. Yorkey and the other writers, originated by Jennifer Damiano, currently being played by Emma Hunton on the National Tour of **_**Next To Normal**_**. The real people in this fic don't belong to me, either! Thanks and enjoy.**

"…_So it's times like these I make it all look easy, just to get my 'lovely' family off my back. And I pretend that life is bright and life is breezy, and tell myself that they're not seriously whack. Because some days I think I'm dying, but I'm really only trying not to crack!..._" – Natalie Goodman

_Chapter One_

_Rachel's POV_

_Lima, Ohio_

_Population: __37,661_

_Great… _I thought, rolling my eyes. _Just freakin' great. This is crazy, all right, but it's not even close to perfect! _I sat outside on the porch as the movers took in the last box. I looked at the ground. _God! _I kicked a tiny, round rock from the white porch onto the grass beneath. Why did we have to come _here_ for the summer? 'Being back home will be good for you, Rach,' Daddy said. Well, as far as I'm concerned, this sure isn't home. New York is home. The stage is home. Here, in Lima Ohio, the capital of no-where's-vile…that's got to be about as far away from home as it can get.

"That's the last of it, Mr. Berry," said one of the movers, walking out with Dad.

"Thanks for everything," he said, paying them each their fees. The movers drove away, out of sight, just after Dad told them each 'thank you' one last time.

"Hey," he said, sitting down next to me once we were alone. "You want to come inside with us?"

"Not right now," I sighed. "No offence. Just…not right now, okay? I'll be inside in a minute."

"Okay," he said, patting me on the shoulder. "Whenever your ready." Dad went inside, shutting the door behind him. I sighed again, standing up, pacing in circles. _Can I hide my stupid hunger, fake some confidence, and cheer? Wish I were here. Wish I were here. Wish I were – _

I was jolted out of the song lyrics by the sound of a Honda pulling into the driveway. Two boys, one shorter with a baby-face and bright blue eyes, the other really tall and handsome, emerged from the old, blue, family car, with a woman in mom-jeans and a man in flannel coming out of the front.

"Um…hi," I said to them, walking out into the yard. "I'm Rachel."

"Oh, I knew who you are – " The shorter boy started, only to be stopped by his stepmother.

"Kurt," she said. "Be polite."

"Uh, right," he said, putting a hand out to me. "I'm Kurt. Welcome to the neighborhood."

"Uh…" I hesitated. "Th-thanks, I guess…?"

"I'm Finn," said the other boy.

"Rachel." There was a pause, and then I said to the family: "Uh, do – do you want to c-come inside?" I opened the door, and from inside my dad sprang up.

"Carole!" he smiled brightly. "So good to see you again!" He ran out and they hugged. "You remember the Hudson's and the Hummel's, right Rach?" he asked me.

"Um…" I remember that the Hummel's owned a tire shop, and that 'Hudson' might have been the last name of a jock or something. "Yeah." Dad and Daddy started a conversation with Burt and Carole right there on the porch, no one wanting to go inside anymore. Carole gave Daddy a plant – probably a house-warming gift or something.

"Rachel," said Dad, turning his head to me. "Why don't you show Kurt and Finn your room? You just finished setting up, right?"

"Um…uh, right," I turned to the two boys. "C'mon," I said, and walked inside. Kurt whistled.

"Nice place," he said.

"Thanks," I deadpanned. I didn't mean to sound rude, but it might have came off as a little more then I wanted it too. "Sorry." I added, and waved them upstairs. We walked down the hall to my room in silence. Secretly, I stole the sign that hung on my dressing room at the theater, and put it on the door to my bedroom. It read in the faded purple font of our logo:

_Rachel Berry*_

_Natalie Goodman_

"Whoa," mouthed Kurt. "A real dressing room sign! Can I touch it?"

"Um…sure…?"

Kurt gently put his hand on the laminated sign. "Oh my God," he whispered, and closed his eyes for second. When he finally took his hand away, I turned the doorknob and opened the door to my room.

"This is it," I said, leading them in.

"Wow…" Kurt said, his eyes lit up like he was a kid on his first ever trip to Disney World. "This is…it's just so…oh holy Bernadette Peters!"

It was true, though. I had designed my room perfectly – if I couldn't be in my _real _home, then I might as well make this 'home' just like it. There were N2N posters all over my light purple walls, most of them autographed by the cast. I had Playbills by the hundreds, all sprawled out on my desk. Most of them were left over from the baskets of them they had us sign for _Broadway Cares _and _Broadway Barks_. Some of them weren't even from our show – some just Playbills that different casts had given us, in trade for some of ours. Also hanging up were cloches of pictures, still-shots and reviews from the show. Pictures of me and the cast hung all around my mirror, and in some picture-frames, instead of pictures, there were lyrics or quotes in curly, pretty font, like: _Please look closely and find her before she fades away… _, or: _Just another day, another stolen hour…feeling like this feeling never goes away, it's just another day…_ , or: _Catch me, I'm falling, please hear me calling, catch me before it's too late…_, or even just: _Mozart was crazy! _And: _You know what the problem with classical is? _

Kurt walked over to my desk and picked up one of the signed Playbills I had out.

"Wow," he said again.

"Keep it," I told him. "Actually, take however many N2N ones you want. I've got way more then enough."

"Um…wow. Thanks," he picked up handfuls of them.

"No problem."

"So…" said Finn, finally speaking. "What're your plans for the summer so far?" I just shrugged. I hadn't thought about it. "Well, if your not doing anything on Saturday, then you should come to Kurt's and my pool party. Everyone from school will be there."

"I left after three weeks of freshmen year," I almost whispered. "I really don't know anyone who'll be there besides you guys…"

"I have some friends who'd _die _to meet you!" Kurt squeaked. "I mean you're _Natalie_ _Goodman_! Who _wouldn't _die to meet you! And…it'll be fun!"

"Well…" I hesitated, but said: "Okay."

**Review?**


	3. Growing Up Unstable

**Second chapter all ready! :) Needless to say I've been watching a lot of N2N these days. :) Oh, and before each chapter I want to have a quote from Natalie, so if you guys have any favorites, please send them in the form of reviews or a PM! I hope I can get more reviews this time. Thanks and enjoy.**

"…_So now am I supposed to live my teenage years? My footloose days of running fast and free? But how do I enjoy my rash and reckless teenage years? When my mom will always be much crazier then me! …'Cause you know you've heard those lies before, you've seen it in their eyes before, and you've sat at that pathetic dinner table. Knowing you would leave if only you were able. That feeling has a label. You're growing up unstable!" _– Natalie Goodman

_Chapter Two_

_Finn's POV_

Last summer, I had Quinn. Then she went and had a baby with my best friend. And now…

Boring. Summer was boring.

So, here I was, at Breadstix was Kurt and Blaine, feeling more like a third-wheel then I knew was even possible.

"…And did you _see _who's on the newest cover of _Vogue_?" Kurt squeaked.

"No! Who?" Blaine asked, eyes widening.

"SJP!" Kurt let out excitedly. Blaine gasped.

"No way!"

"_Way_!"

"Who's SPJ?" I asked. Kurt looked at me like I had five thousand and one heads.

"_SJP_," Kurt corrected. "You know SJP! Sarah Jessica Parker…?" He was trying to help, but still no bell rang. "Carrie Bradshaw? _Sex And The City_? Aw, never mind…" Kurt padded me on the shoulder. "'S okay…" he said, then whispered to Blaine: "This one's _hopeless_!"

"'Heard that…" I mumbled, drinking more Coke. When there was nothing left to drink I said: "I'm not _that _hopeless!"

"Yes…_cough_…you…_cough_…are!" Kurt fake-coughed in between words, Blaine laughing from next to him. "You didn't even know who Rachel Berry was!"

"Well, I mean…" I tried to defend myself somehow. "You wouldn't know who Peyton Manning is!"

"Personally, I prefer his brother…" Blaine tried, but there was nothing from Kurt. "Really? Nothing? Aw, well…never mind…"

"So, uh," I leaned in over the table. "Who…who is Rachel anyway? I mean, I know she's like on Broadway or something…but…"

"Ah, Finn, what _are _we going to do with you?" Kurt shook his head. "But anyway, Rachel is in a _beautiful _show that's about to go to Broadway. She plays Natalie – a principle role."

"What's that mean?" I asked.

"It means that she's right under the main role. Like…like the second-to-main character," Blaine explained. "I've seen her preform a few times. She's really good…and I mean _really _good!" Then he shifted his gaze to just Kurt. "When _Next To Normal _comes to Broadway, I'll get us tickets. Just you and me. Row A."

"Blaine…th-thank you…but do you know how expensive new releases are? And _row A_? Can you afford that?"

"Nothing but the best for you," he said with that dapper smile of his.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

**Santana Lopez: **PARTY FINN AND KURTS 2DAY!

_17 people liked this_

**Noah Puckerman: **Spin the bottle?

_Santana Lopez and Brittany S. Peirce liked this _

**Quinn Fabray: …**

**Noah Puckerman: ;P**

**Kurt Hummel: **Who's bringing what?

**Santana Lopez: **I'm bringing my sarcasm.

**Kurt Hummel: **San, you _always _bring your sarcasm!

_14 people liked this_

**Finn Hudson: **It's a pool party guys. Bring whatever you want.

**Noah Puckerman: **I'll supply the bottle for spinning…

**Quinn Fabray: **_Really_, Puckerman?

_17 people liked this_

**Sam Evans: **Everyone's going right?

**Kurt Hummel: **All the New Directions, Blaine, and Blaine might bring some Warbler friends.

_Wes, David, and Thad like this_

**Blaine Anderson: **Why no last names?

**Wes: **Just the right amount of mystery…

_17 people liked this_

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

_Rachel's POV_

After about another hour of doing absolutely and totally _nothing _because of how _stupid _and _boring _it is here, my phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a text from Adam – it simply said:

_Hey_.

I laughed at the joke and wrote back:

_Hey._

Within a minute, I got the response:

_I've missed you these days. I thought you might call – it's been weeks!_

It had only actually been a couple of days, but I didn't want to ruin the lyrics, so I kept just them going, writing back:

_I've been crazed!_

_But seriously, Rach, _he responded, breaking out of the song lyrics. _These few days feel like weeks. We miss you here. What've you been up to?_

_A whole lot of nothing_, I responded. _There's a party later, but I'm not going_.

_Why not_? He asked.

_Because…I don't know. _I sighed after sending the message.

_Alice says maybe it'll help you make friends._ He replied.

_Tell Alice I say stfu! _I typed.

_Alice says 'Natalie, don't talk to your mother that way!' _I laughed at his response.

_Lol_. I simply put at first, then adding: _You really thing I should just suck it up and go?_

_I would. _He said back.

_I guess. Maybe for like an hour. _I typed quickly.

_Good for you, Rach-y! :) _He responded. _And if you don't have an excuse to leave, you can always say you've got homework…surgery…rabies!_

I shook my head at the reference. _Goodbye, Henry_. I smiled after hitting '_Send'_.

"Hello?" Came Kurt's voice from the other end of the phone.

"Kurt?" I asked. "It's…it's Rachel…"

"Oh, hey!" He said. "What's up?"

"Do you think you can help me with something?"

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"So…" Kurt said, sitting down on my bed. "Not that I'm _not _super excited to be in your presence, not to mention this room, but why'd you ask me here again?"

"Look," I said, sitting down next to him. "Can you just…fill me in…on – on what I've – what I've missed?"

"You mean…tell you about everyone?" Kurt asked. "You don't just want to find out for yourself?"

"I don't want to look like an idiot for being the new girl, alright?" I admitted, not really looking him in the eyes. In that moment of weakness, I felt like Natalie again.

"I thought you might have something like this in mind," Kurt said, now smiling at me. I couldn't tell if he was just being nice, or being sympathetic. I hoped it was just niceness – I don't really do sympathy. He pulled out a thin, hardcover book that he'd brought with him. "This is the William McKinley High year book. The Thunderclap!" He opened it, and turned to a dog-eared page that said _Glee Club _across the top. "This is the glee club – everyone who's in glee will be there today. Hey! Maybe you should join!" His eyes sparkled. "We don't have any competitions over the summer, but we still practice and do Invitationals for people to buy tickets to see us! Seriously. We _need _your angel voice!"

"Um…maybe…" I said. "I was just thinking, you know, keep a low profile for now…"

"Just think about it?" He pleaded. "_Please_?"

"Sure, um, yeah…I-I'll think about it…" I murmured.

"Okay, so…" Kurt said, pointing to a guy with _Chia_-_Pet _hair. "This is Mr. Schuster, our glee club coach, and a Spanish teacher. He's great, everybody loves him…" he pointed to Finn. "And you already know Finn," he continued on, pointing to a blonde cheerleader and a kid with a mohawk. "This is Quinn and Puck," he said. "Quinn and Finn used to date, but then Puck knocked up Quinn, and they gave their baby to this nice lady who really wanted a daughter, and now they're together."

"Um…drama much?" I laughed, Kurt laughing a lot louder.

"You can say that again!" He added. "This is Santana and Brittany," he pointed to two more cheerleaders. "They're together. Brittany's dumber then a post, and Santana's super sarcastic, but also kind of awesome…" he pointed to three more kids in the picture. "This is Tina, Mercedes, and Artie. My closest friends in glee…" It went on like this until I knew who everyone in the glee club was. Then, Kurt took out a picture of a boy in a blue-and-red blazer.

"And this…" Kurt continued. "Is Blaine. My boyfriend."

"He's cute," I said, nodding. "Kind of looks like Harry Potter. I approve."

"Thanks," he smiled. "Blaine told my that he wants to get tickets when _Next To Normal _comes to Broadway this fall, and – "

"I can get you tickets!" I interrupted him.

"You can?" He asked. "Are…are you sure?"

"Of course! Front row!" I smiled at him. "Anything you want."

"Rachel Berry," Kurt said. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

We shook hands.

"So…" I said. "Should we get going?"

_Crash! _

Kurt and I ran to the window, only to see thunder, lighting…the whole shebang.

"Aw, man," he said. "Damn it, thunder! Rachel, do you mind if I use your laptop for a second?" He motioned to the little _MacBook Pro _on my desk.

"No problem…" I said, not really sure what he was going to do. It turns out, he logged onto his _Facebook _page.

**Kurt Hummel: **No pool guys. Maybe we can stay inside? Watch movies or something?

**Noah Puckerman: **Spin. The. Bottle.

_16 people like this_

**Tina Cohen-Chang: **Karaoke?

_17 people like this_

**So…what ya' think so far? **

**Next chapter: Karaoke Party! (And spin the bottle...)**

**So, remember to send in your favorite Natalie Goodman quotes/lyrics. If they're relevant for the chapter, I'll use them! I feel like the lyrics I used for this one isn't the best, but whatever. **

**Review?**


	4. Play 'Til It's Perfect

**Sorry. I know I promised the next chapter would be the party, but that'll be the **_**next **_**chapter – I really wanted to put this in. Also, I don't know if Jenn Damiano ever felt just like I had Rachel feel in this chapter, but she did say that she had mental-breakdowns and panic attacks backstage during N2N, so I went off of that. And yeah, I had to add Shelby – she **_**is **_**Idina Menzel after all! :) Remember, reviews are love! Thanks and enjoy.**

"…_You play 'til it's perfect, you play 'til you ache. You play 'til the keys or your fingernails break. 'Cause you'll rock the recital, and get into Yale – then you won't feel so sick, and you won't look so pale. 'Cause you've got your full-ride, and your early-admit. And your done with this school, and with all of this shit! And you'll graduate early – you're gone as of May – and there's nothing your paranoid parents can say! And you know that it's just a sonata away and you play. And you play. And everything else goes away. Everything else goes away. Everything else goes away._" – Natalie Goodman

_Chapter Three_

_Rachel's POV_

_Three Weeks Earlier – _

"Rachel?"

I locked the door.

My whole body trembled…but I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't move. All I could do was close my eyes and pray for it to stop. My vision went blurry. I was nauseous, and dizzy, and my head was pounding like I was banging it against a wall. I could only take short, quick breaths as I feel to the floor.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

I was sweating like crazy when I could finally haul myself off the floor. I gasped, and that gasp became many gasps, and I was hyperventilating. _Please…please…please make it stop…_ I held onto my vanity-counter, and looked myself over. Was I…going _insane_? Was I slowly but surely going totally and completely crazy, like Diana in our show? _No, don't think that way… _I told myself. _It was just another panic attack_…

"Rach? Rachel, you in there?" The voice came again with another knock. It belonged to Sally, our door-lady. Loudly, she banged on my door again and again, and I was worried she might damage my dressing room sign. "Someone's here to see you!"

I picked myself up and dusted myself off, whipping the sweat from my forehead, and fixing my hair. I fixed my first costume, and told myself that everything was fine – I closed my eyes for a second, and I pretended that…that what just happened in fact _didn't _just happen.

"Rachel?"

"One second!" I yelled back, continuing to fix my hair. I rubbed my eyes, took a few breaths, and asked: "Who've ya' got, Sally?"

"Umm...'Shelby Corcoran' is here to see you…?"

_Damn it! Not her. Not now…_

"Let her in."

"Oh…okay…" she said, walking back to the theater's stage door. I heard the _vis-vis _of that golden, beautiful stage door, and closed my eyes.

Then she knocked.

I gulped, and opened my door.

"Hey, Shelby," I said, forcing a show-face. "Come on in," and she did.

"Are…are you okay, Rachel?" She said, tilting her head a little. "You look a little…off. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's great! Why wouldn't it be great? It's great!" That was my first line of the show, but Shelby didn't know that…yet. "What about you?" I asked, sitting down in one of my chairs, her sitting down in one next to it. "What…what have you been up to lately?"

"I just…I…wanted to see you…" she said, fumbling around in her purse. After a while, she pulled out two Advil. "Take these," she said. "You look like you need 'em."

"No, really, I'm _fine_." I insisted. "Just a little over-worked, I guess…"

"Exactly," she murmured, looking down then back up at me. "Rachel I need to tell you something."

"And a simple phone call wouldn't have been enough?" I gritted my teeth. "Why are you _here_, Shelby? I'm sorry you didn't make it to Broadway, but that doesn't mean you can just pop in and out of my life whenever you feel like being in a theater!" Silence. "Sorry," I said quickly. "I…I didn't…I really didn't mean – "

"No," she almost nodded. "You're right, you're right…" She paused for what felt like one million forevers, and then sighed. "Rachel, your dads and I had a talk last night."

"A…about…about _what_?" I asked her.

"They're worried about you."

"Why would they be _worried _about me?" I demanded, my heart beating out of my chest.

My worst fear was coming true before my eyes.

"Well…they think you're becoming more…distant, lately." She whispered.

"Or maybe that's _growing up_!" I almost yelled. "And it's not like I'm purposely ignoring anyone! I happen to be putting on a show eight times a week!"'

"I can't argue with you about that…" she said quickly. Was she…_agreeing _with me? "But the thing is, it's not just that. They think…they think that you've…changed – "

But I wouldn't hear anything more.

"_Changed_?" I demanded. "_Changed_? It's not like I'm some stuck-up diva who demands everything at the snap of her fingers! I'm _totally _in-check; I've never even done anything that could possibly make them think that way! _Changed_…that's _bullshit_! I haven't even had a _sip _of alcohol when my _over twenty-one _year old co-stars are throwing parties! God damn it, I'm still a virgin! I – "

"Okay, okay, okay!" Shelby put her hands up, giving the '_don't shoot, don't shoot_' sign. "Rachel, calm down. It's not that you're acting like a diva, or doing anything…" She seemed to be looking for the right word, and came up with: "_Questionable_. Even I've noticed it, Rachel, and I hardly even _see _you anymore! You used to be so…so _alive _and _happy_, and…_bright_. And now…"

"And now…?" My eyebrows furrowed.

"And now…your so…_not_." Her words cut me like a knife. I should have known something like this would happen – I should known –

The intercom buzzed.

"Half-hour!" The voice over the loudspeaker called. "Half-hour 'til show time!"

"Thank you, half-hour!" I heard my co-stars yell from their dressing rooms. I didn't join them – I wasn't in the mood to yell anything.

"I've gotta get read for the show," I told her indefinitely, grabbing my stage-mic from one of the drawers in my long vanity. "Would you grab me some mic-glue? It's sitting on the costume rack over there," I motioned to the black, rolling rack with my second, third, fourth, and fifth costumes hanging up neatly. Shelby walked over, moved the hangers – and clothing on them – aside with a screechy sound, and said:

"There's mic-tape here, but no glue."

"Alice must have it," I murmured. "Can you just toss me the tape?" Instead of just throwing it, Shelby walked over to me, adjusted the chord along my back, and ripped off a piece of microphone-tape.

"I…I can do my own mic, ya' know…you don't have too…"

"No, Rachel, you really _can't _do your own mic. Now hold your hair back." I did as I was told, and we were both silent for a moment.

"I…um…I usually have Alice help me with it before hair and makeup." I defended myself quickly.

"Right." She finished taping my mic down and said: "There. You're all mic-ed."

"This is usually when I go down for hair and makeup…" I said, but didn't move. "Shelby, will you stay for the show?" I blurted, my heart lurching. "Please? Will…will you stay for the show?" She nodded.

"Of course I'll stay for the show," she murmured. "If that's what you really want."

"It is," I said. "Please. Please stay for the show."

"Of course I will…" she turned to go out and get a ticket from Sally the door-lady, but then looked back at me. "You're so grown up now," Shelby whispered. "I remember when you were just a baby. Feels like yesterday…"

"I'm not a baby anymore, Shelby," I said, almost an edge to my voice. "I'm _sixteen _now." She walked back over to me, and smoothed over my hair, a ghost of a smile on her face.

"You do know who you are, right Rachel?"

"What?" I whispered.

"You do know that you're _not _Natalie Goodman, right? You're not that angry, angry girl you play…"

"Natalie's _not _angry…" I whispered. "I _hate _when people say that Natalie's angry. She's _not _angry! She's in pain. She's hurting. She's – "

"She's not _you_, Rachel…" Shelby whispered. "She's not you."

"Fifteen 'til show time!" Came the intercom again.

"Damn it!" I yelled, rushing to jam Natalie's shoes on my feet. "I'm late! I'm _so _late!"

"So…so I'll see you at intermission?" She asked, holding the door open for me.

"Yeah," I said. "See you at intermission."

"I'll be here." Another pause, and then: "Rachel?"

"Yeah?" I turned around from running down the hall to see her still in the doorway of my dressing room.

"Remember what I said," She smiled at me softly. "And break a leg out there tonight."

"Thank you," I whispered, and ran down the hall.

"You're late!" Aaron said from behind, bumping into my shoulder as we raced to hair and makeup.

"So are you!" I shot back. "What's your excuse?"

"You could say I was…channeling my inner Gabe," he laughed. "You?"

"You know how it is, my brother," I said quietly. "Natalie's a perfectionist. Everything's gotta be perfect."

"Does that mean everything's…_crazy_?" He asked. "Because, you know, _crazy is perfect_!"

"Yeah," I said. "And everything else goes away."

**Next chapter will be the party, I promise!**

**Don't forget to send in lyrics/quotes! I need them!**

**So…review?**


	5. Party

**Hey, so just to clarify, N2N closed on Broadway in January, so, yeah. It's on tour now. This chapter **_**is **_**the party – karaoke and spin the bottle and all that – lyrics are at the bottom. :) Thanks and enjoy.**

Natalie: "_Come on Henry, this is my favorite song!_"

Henry: "_Nat, don't you think six clubs is a little much for a Tuesday night – Wednesday morning? They're _all _your favorite song. And what are you on?_"

Natalie (_giggling wildly_): "_Adderall, Xanax, Valium, Robitussin, and something that's, um, purple!_"

Henry: "_When did _you _become a bad influence on _me?"

Natalie: "_Hey, this is _medicinal, _alright? My mom's in the hospital getting her brain electrocuted! Seriously – she get's it now, like, every two weeks. I can't even _deal. _I can't deal with any of it anymore! Whatever. I'll _never_ let them fuck with my brain like that!_"

Henry: "_Oh _no_, you're strictly a do-it-yourself-er!_"

_Chapter Four_

_Rachel's POV_

"Kurt…are you sure we shouldn't just ditch?" I said, still in a bathrobe in my bathroom. When I told Kurt and Blaine that this was my first real party not hosted by , or one of my co-stars, or anything like that, they insisted on coming over and helping me pick out my outfit. I didn't see what the big deal was, but apparently this was 'huge'.

"Um, who am I talking to, again?" Kurt and Blaine were sitting on the edge of the bathtub, but Kurt got up and paced around me. "Who is the youngest person _ever _in Broadway history to originate a featured role?" I sighed, and said:

"I did…"

"Who got _stand out reviews _for her performance from the _NY Times_?" Blaine joined in.

"I did…"

"Who will be a _shoe-in _to be one of the youngest people _ever _to be nominated for a _Tony_?"

"I'm _not_!" I yelled over them.

"Yes you _are_!" They both yelled.

"Well…maybe I've read a few things on ," I admitted, shrugging. "But that's beside the point!"

"Rachel Barbra Berry, _how on earth_ is that besides the point?" Blaine demanded. I sighed again. "Not let me look you…" He did that thing with his hands like he was a painter. "Hmm…Kurt, what's she got?"

"Are you going through my closet?" I demanded, running into my room to find that, yes, Kurt _was _going through my closet.

"Sweetie, you have _way _too many _N2N _t-shirts. Seriously. What do you do, raid the t-shirt stands?"

"Something like that," I smiled, thinking of the memory. Aaron, Adam and I _would _raid the merchandise stands between shows on Saturdays. It was kind of a tradition, just like sneaking out so close to half-hour to get _Starbucks _with Louis. One time, a bus almost hit us…yeah, I know, long story.

"Hmm…this'll work!" Kurt threw some random clothes onto my bed. "Yeah, I actually dig this look. Yay!"

"Now go change so we can go!" Blaine added, looking through Playbills.

"Whatever…" I said, and did as I was told. This is going to be a _long _night. "What do you even _do _at parties like this?" I asked.

"Hmm…" Kurt mauled over what to tell her in his head. "Stormy night, no parents in the state, house all to ourselves…what do you _think_?" I shrugged.

"How should I know?"

"Well," Blaine said, looking up from one of the signed Playbill and up at Kurt. "_I _hope we play seven minutes in Heaven…" Kurt raised his eyebrows.

"Oh boy…" I fought back the need to yell: '_I'm robo-trippin'! I can't feel my legs!_'

**XXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Hey there, Finnessa…" Santana said, plopping down on one of the couches in the Hummel-Hudson finished basement, next to Finn. Burt and Carole were away for the week, on a sort of better-late-then-never honeymoon get away in Hawaii. Hence the perfectly planned date of the party. "So. Britt and I want to get our _party _on. Where do your rents keep the booze? And is there, like, an extra room we can take over?"

"Santana…" he got up. "Look, I know it sounds lame, but I promised Burt I wouldn't take advantage of their being away. And besides, you seem more then a little tipsy already…"

"Whatever," she flopped over so she was lying down. "Puckerman's bringing 'nough to go 'round…" And with that, the Latina girl on the couch started giggling like an idiot.

"And now the party's startin'!" Puck yelled, walking in with Quinn. "Turn up the music!"

As Finn walked over to the IPod dock and did what Puck said, more people started to arrive. Tina and Mike, Mercedes and Sam, and Artie, Lauren, and the three Warblers, Wes, Thad, and David came as a group. Everyone else arrived, too, making us the last…great. Then Kurt, Blaine and I arrived – everyone stared at us…at _me_. I know, I know – you'd think I'd be used to that by now from being on stage all these years. But guess what? When a new group of people looks at you like you have ten heads, it never gets old.

"Everyone," Kurt announced. "This is Rachel. Rachel, this is everyone."

"Um…hi," I gave a tiny wave. Everyone went back to the partying in a matter of seconds, after Sam, the blonde kid, yelled out:

"I'm not the new kid anymore!"

And after about an hour of mingling, the party was in full swing. Blaine and Kurt were holding hands the whole time, which I thought was pretty adorable. The karaoke machine was working, and Santana and Puck were making full use of it, singing a slurred, drunken version of _Bad Romance_. When they were done, Santana rambled:

"Wh-who's next?" Puck shot a look at Quinn, and she replaced Santana at one of the karaoke mics.

"Pick a song, any song, baby…" Puck smiled a crooked smile at her, and when she had selected one, he started the song:

Puck: "_Livin' my life in a slow hell _

_Different girl every night at the hotel _

_I ain't seen the sun shine in 3 damn days _

_Been fuelin' up on cocaine and whisky _

_Wish I had a good girl to miss me _

_Lord, I wonder if I'll ever change my ways _

_I put your picture away _

_Sat down and cried today_

_I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to her _

_I put your picture away, sat down and cried today _

_I can't look at you, while I'm lyin' next to her._"

Quinn: "_I called you last night in the hotel _

_Everyone knows but they wont tell _

_But their half-hearted smiles tell me _

_Somethin' just ain't right _

_I been waitin' on you for a long time _

_Fuelin' up on heartaches and cheap wine _

_I ain't heard from you in 3 damn nights _

_I put your picture away _

_I wonder where you been _

_I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to him _

_I put your picture away _

_I wonder where you been _

_I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to him _

_I saw ya yesterday with an old friend – _"

Puck: "_It was the same ole same "how have you been" _

_Since you been gone my worlds been dark and grey!_"

Quinn: "_You reminded me of brighter days _

_I hoped you were comin' home to stay _

_I was headed to church – _"

Puck_: _"_I was off to drink you away!_"

Both: "_I thought about you for a long time _

_Can't seem to get you off my mind _

_I can't understand why we're living life this way_

_I found your picture today _

_I swear I'll change my ways _

_I just called to say I want you to come back home _

_I found your picture today _

_I swear I'll change my ways _

_I just called to say I want you to come back home _

_I just called to say, I love you come back home!_"

"_Ooookay_, I _dare _somebody to beat that!" Puck yelled, nudging Quinn.

"Who's up for it?" She asked the crowd.

"Should we give it a try?" Blaine whispered in Kurt's ear.

"Why not?" He shrugged, and they stepped up to the karaoke mics. "But you're a fool, Blaine Warbler Anderson, if you think you're stealing the Olivia Newton-John part from me!"

Blaine: "_I got chills._

_They're multiplyin'._

_And I'm losin' control._

_'Cause the power_

_You're supplyin',_

_It's electrifyin'!_"

Kurt: "_You better shape up,_

_'Cause I need a man_

_And my heart is set on you._

_You better shape up;_

_You better understand_

_To my heart I must be true._"

Blaine: "_Nothin' left, nothin' left for me to do!_"

Both: "_You're the one that I want._

_Ooh, ooh, ooh honey._

_The one that I want._

_Ooh, ooh, ooh, honey._

_The one that I want_

_Ooh, ooh, oooooh!_

_The one I need._

_Oh, yes indeed!_"

Kurt: "_If you're filled_

_With affection,_

_You're too shy to convey,_

_Meditate in my direction._

_Feel your way._"

Blaine: "I _better shape up,_

_'Cause you need a man – _"

Kurt: "_I need a man_

_Who can keep me satisfied!_"

Blaine: "_I better shape up_

_if I'm gonna prove – _"

Kurt: "_You better prove_

_That my faith is justified!_"

Both: "_You're the one that I want._

_Ooh, ooh, ooh honey._

_The one that I want._

_Ooh, ooh, ooh, honey._

_The one that I want_

_Ooh, ooh, oooooh!_

_The one I need._

_Oh, yes indeed!_"

"Okay, that was _adorable_," I said to Kurt as he sat back down. "Like, seriously. _Adorable._" Mike, the guy Tina was dating, came over to us – and everyone else before us – asking if they wanted a cup of…whatever extremely alcoholic beverage was in the red, plastic cups he was holding.

"Want one?" He asked me as Kurt waved it away.

"Um…no thanks," I smiled a show-face. "I'm good."

"Have you ever drank before?" Kurt asked me once he left.

"Once," I said. "You?"

"Yeah, this one time at a party like this, before Blaine and I were dating. But that was the only time. What about you?" He asked. "When was your first drink?"

"About a week or so ago," I smiled a half-hearted smile. "After our last show, we had the cast party of all cast parties. It was pretty epic. I wasn't, like, passed out drunk or anything, but still it was my first drink. This is my first real 'party', though, like I told you…" I trailed off after that. "Ever done drugs?" I was curious. Kurt seemed like a nice kid – I wanted to get to know, maybe, what it would have been like to be his friend. What his first experiences would have been like. If I was on the same page as a normal teenager…

"Nope. That stuff grosses me out. You?"

"Only as Natalie. And those are just props. So no." Kurt laughed when I said that.

"Didn't you have a line that went like…um…" he tried to remember one of my jokes. "Something about Mozart being stoned?"

"Yeah," I laughed, and recited: "_Oh, totally, Henry. Mozart should have just gotten stoned and jammed out 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'._"

"That was it!" Kurt laughed. "Me and Blaine yelled that at each other for days after we saw the show that one time! Well, that, and obsessing over Aaron Tveit's shirtless scene. I mean, is he _photo-shopped_?"

"Why does everyone ask me that?" I laughed. Just then, Sam yelled out:

"Time for spin the bottle!"

I wanted to complain, but didn't say anything as we all gathered in a circle around the empty beer bottle. Thad, the Warbler, spun and it landed on Lauren. A discussed look appeared on both of their faces, but they kissed anyway. Gagging ensued from both parties involved, while they're friends around them laughed. Some laughed in the spirit that it was all fun and games, others just laughed drunkenly. Then Tina, who seemed not at all into this, spun the bottle, and after we all waited and waited, it landed on Puck. They kissed, with a stinging look from Quinn and Mike.

"You're up, Finn!"

With that, Finn spun the little green bottle. It stopped, and landed on…me.

And he kissed me.

**Lyrics:**

_**Picture **_**by: Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow**

_**You're The One That I Want**_** from: **_**Grease**_

**Review? Please? Please? Please? :)**


	6. Audition

**Thanks for all the great reviews, guys! Keep them coming, please! :) Lyrics are at the bottom! Thanks and enjoy.**

Henry: "_I like the way you think_. _Although, you're kind of a confusing person._"

Natalie: "_You could say it runs in the family_."

_Chapter Five_

_Finn's POV_

"…I know, right?" Quinn continued gabbing with Santana and Brittany as we walked into glee club. "That party was _totally _what we needed to get our minds off Cheerios 'til practice starts up again."

"Who was that dwarf Kurt and Blaine brought?"

"I don't know, some freaky new girl," Quinn answered, shrugging. "Who ever she is, I hope we never have to see her again."

I could have told them about how Kurt had asked her, over the phone last night, to come with him to glee practice today and audition. But I kind of wanted to see the looks on their faces. Everyone piled into the choir room, and it was kind of weird to be here in the summer.

"Wait…where's Mr. Schue?" Tina asked. "And Kurt and Mercedes?"

"They'll be here," I said. "They have something to take care of first…"

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

_Rachel's POV_

I waited outside the door, pacing back and forth. This was supposed to be exciting, and good, and…and finally a chance to _sing _here in Lima, Ohio. I –

_Hey. Guess what? _My phone vibrated with this text from Aaron.

_What? _I replied quickly.

_I got it._ He responded simply.

No way! You see, Aaron had auditioned for, and apparently just gotten a filming job in LA while we were off for the summer – a multi-episode role in _Gossip Girl_. It seemed like everyone else was busy working over the summer…except me. Meghann Fahy, my understudy for Natalie, was busy work-shopping the up-coming new Off-Broadway musical, _The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown_, while Adam was working with his agent on auditioning for the _RENT _rival, when it comes up in the 2011-2012 Broadway season, and Alice and her husband were playing venues with their band…and here I was, doing nothing of the sort.

Not working my craft at all. Not getting any better for the Broadway season. Doing absolutely _no _training…

_I was _so _screwed…_

_That's great, my brother! _I responded back to him. _Congratulations! :)_

It didn't hit me until now. It wasn't just horrible that I was here because of boredom…it was _practically a criminal offence _that I was here because of the fact that…that to be on Broadway, you have to be _the best _every second. You have to blow the audiences' minds every single night with your unstoppable, impeccable talent. The only way to upgrade my Off-Broadway status to Broadway status was to train and practice and improve – like my co-stars were doing. Even my understudy was training more then I was! And…and Meghann is already older then me…what if…what if they make _her _Natalie and _me _Natalie's standby? What if they think I'm not good enough for Broadway? And standing here in Lima Ohio sure isn't helping me get any better! I…I can't loose this show! It's all I have! I…you know what? I'm sorry. I shouldn't jump to conclusions like that…_it's gonna be fine…it's gonna be fine_…

"Hey!" Kurt's voice jolted me out of my thoughts. He was walking in with one of the girls at the party. "You remember Mercedes, right?"

"Um, yeah!" I lied. "I – I'm Rachel. I – "

"We know who you are," she said, but she didn't say it in an excited tone like Kurt did the day we met. Her words were more…_sharp_.

"Right," said Kurt, looking between Mercedes and I. "Should we go find Mr. Schuster, then?" She didn't say anything, and walked into the building, leaving Kurt and I walking behind her.

"Is she okay?" I whispered to him when she was just about out of ear-shot.

"Yeah," he said. "Mercedes is just…a little…jealous. That's all. Once you get to know her, I'm sure you'll be really good friends!"

"G-great…" I said. Once we opened to heavy, double-doors, Mercedes led us to an office and knocked on one of the glass-looking doors. Inside there was a redhead teacher; along with the curly-haired guy that Kurt says is the glee instructor.

"Mr. Schue," said Kurt, taking me by the hand and walking over to the two. "I think New Directions' luck is going to turn around! This is Rachel…"

"Hi," I said to them.

"Right, Kurt, I – I know who she is but…but Rachel, what are you doing _here_?"

"Long story," I breathed. "But Kurt here says that your glee club needs help…and I'd be happy to be at your service!"

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Guys," said Mr. Schue, walking in with the three of us. Kurt and Mercedes took their seats, but I stayed standing up next to him. "This is Rachel Berry. Some of you might recognize her, some of you might not…"

"I knew I'd seen her face somewhere!" Tina yelled out. "Where's she from, Mr. Schue?" She talked as if I weren't even there.

"Rachel…" he looked at me to tell them.

"Um, I, um…" I took a breath and said: "I'm currently in a musical that's going to Broadway. Any of you ever heard of _Next To Normal_?"

"Is that the one with the crazy lady?" Sam asked.

"Well…um…" I felt a little offended. Sure, the main basis of N2N is that Diana still sees Gabe, her dead son, and totally ignores Natalie, her daughter, while her husband tries make her better…but it's _not _just about a 'crazy lady'! "I guess you could say that…"

"Rachel has decided to audition for glee club while she's here in Lima," he told the club, then looked at me and said: "Whenever you're ready," before sitting down.

"Uh, right…" I bit my lip. I hadn't exactly thought of what song to sing in the first place. I could just sing _Superboy and the Invisible Girl_, or _Everything Else_, or _Growing Up Unstable_, but I thought that would be kind of a cop-out…just to stand up here and sing something that I'd be singing every night once again once the summer's out. Hmm…

"I – I'll be singing _Remember This _from the new Off-Broadway musical, _The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown_." If Meghann could do it, then so could I.

"_The sea is sinking underneath your weight_,

_The sky is pale with morning light_

_Your heart is beating at a faster rate,_

_Remember this_

_The racing heart, the purple dawn,_

_Remember this_

_Before the moment's gone._

_The street is quiet but the clouds race by – _

_And who knows what those clouds will see?_

_Oh, before you start regretting –_

_Before you turn the key,_

_Remember this_

_The way it feels inside the car,_

_The still, cool air,_

_Remember feeling like your life begins today_

_Try and stop before the whole world slips away_

_Remember this_

_Remember this_

_Remember everything that led you here_

_Each road trip and every single tear_

_Remember everything you've learned,_

_And everything you still don't know,_

_Remember this!_

_You look back on your life,_

_The girl you were for those eighteen years,_

_And let it go – _

_Let go of the tears._

_Your head might shake as you let the ignition rise,_

_You might not know the roads you'll take,_

_But finally, the gear is shifting,_

_Your foot is lifting off the break!_

_Remember this!_

_Remember this – _

_Remember this – _

_This freedom!_

_Freedom!_

_Freedom – oh!_

_Freedom!_"

**Next chapter: more Shelby, some Beth, and Rachel really interacting with the glee club.**

**Lyrics: **_Remember This _**from: **_The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown _

**So…review?**


	7. She's Not There

**Sorry this took so long, I've been starting my over-the-summer work for school. Ugh. Anyway, here's the next chapter. :) I read online that (spoiler!) Shelby might come back to **_**Glee **_**(YAY more Idina Menzel! :D) and if she does, I **_**really **_**want her and Rachel to sing **_**Maybe **_**from N2N. The lyrics below are from that song – **_**so **_**beautiful! :) Remember to review! :) Thanks and enjoy.**

"_She's not there!_" – Natalie Goodman

_Chapter Six_

_Rachel's POV_

She said she would call me.

About three weeks ago, she stayed for a show…and she said she would call me. She said she would. She _said_. Why hadn't she called me yet? It's been weeks! She's _here_, isn't she? Doesn't she care that I am, too? That sparked another thought all together. Doesn't she _care_, all those times…all those Christmases, all those birthdays? All those dance recitals and singing competitions and theater shows? All those…_everything_? She can't do what she does now…but she does. She does it anyway. She'll just sort of appear – a 'hi-and-bye' or a quick 'you-look-good-how've-you-been' and then she's just…gone. It's like she's only there enough to make me want her to be there more, and then hate her for it.

Like _Gabe_.

I looked down at the _Next To Normal_ t-shirt that I was wearing. Kurt would hate me for wearing it, but it _was _Natalie's shirt. It read in the faded, purple italics of our logo: _invisible girl_._ Damn it! _I thought, my hand meeting my face as I shook my head. _God, damn it!_ I gritted my teeth, trying to push away the bits of the scene that came to mind as I felt a tear drop down to my cheek. _No. _I told myself. _Don't think that way! _I'm _not _Natalie…at least, not this way. And Shelby…and Shelby _isn't _Diana! I'm not invisible…I'm _not_ invisible…

_…Catch me, I'm falling. Catch me, I'm falling. Loosing myself in the air. Catch me, I'm falling. Don't leave me crawling. Catch me and show that you care…_

I closed my eyes and took a breath…when I opened them and looked up at the ceiling, my room was spinning. Why was my room spinning? I shook my head, took another deep breath, and closed my eyes again. _Don't think about it like that_. I told myself, starting to feel that cold, panic-y feeling well-up inside me again. I couldn't think that way. I'm not her. I'm _not _her. But…right now…I sure _feel _a lot like her. But thinking about this like that…I can't help but think of that one line Diana speaks mid-song in the middle of the show. Before no one shows up to Natalie's piano recital. When Gabe's around.

"…We had Natalie, too…" she says, stopping herself. "And I know she knows…" she pauses again. "I couldn't hold her in the hospital. I wouldn't let myself hold her." That's when Louis's character, Dr. Madden, her therapist says:

"That's the first time you've mentioned Natalie in weeks of therapy!"

_She's not there! She's not there! She's not there!_

My God, I miss the theater. I miss my cast-mates only being a staircase – or in Alice's, or her and my understudies, Meghann's and Jessica's cases, less then that – away. I miss having a family who _gets_ me. I used to tell myself that my dads understood what I'm going through. I used to lie to myself. They don't…I know they don't. They _can't_. They're not performers. Even so, they've never felt this kind of…raw, pure _emotion _that I've felt every night. They've _watched _it, sure – they've seen me perform hundreds of times! But they've never _felt_ it. Don't get me wrong – it's nothing against them. I love them more then anything and everything, and they love me, too…but they'll just never…quite _understand_. Not a lot of people will – especially not _here_! And the one person in my life who _might _actually _understand_…apparently doesn't want to.

I got up from the position I was in – looking blanking at the ceiling, lying down on my back on my bed – and walked over to my desk where my phone was charging. _Charge Complete_, it read, so I took my phone out of the charger, bringing it back to where I was before. I checked my call log. _No missed calls_.

But she said she would call me…

It all happened kind of like this:

"Did you hear that cell phone go off tonight?" I asked Alice as we walked up the third flight of stairs – the first from off-stage, the second from the boys' floor, and now to the girls' floor.

"When did…oh!" A look of 'I got it' quickly appeared on her face. "During the music box scene, before _I Dreamed A Dance_!"

"_And _during _Hey 3 / Perfect For You (Reprise)_!" It was one of my favorite scenes – when Natalie finally meets Henry at the dance and he promises to be there for her forever, no matter how 'crazy' she ends up.

"You know what gets me crazy though," she said. "When they announce before the show to turn off all cell phones and electronic devices and you still see the glowing dots all over the audience!"

"You know what Kyle Dean would say!" I laughed, thinking of Kyle Dean Massey's – understudy Gabe's – catch phrase, '_this ain't no movie theater 'yall!_' "And now they sell those drinks at intermission with all the ice in them and all you hear is…" I made a screechy, annoying, ice-crunching sound. "_All _Act Two!"

"Oh, I _know_, right!" Alice laughed a little, shaking her head. "Drives me up the wall!"

We parted ways to go into our dressing rooms, to change out of our costumes before stage-dooring. I loved stage-dooring, it's always just so…awesome. You see, 'stage-dooring' or 'to stage-door' is when audience members and fans wait by the stage door for you to come out after the show. You come out for them, and they cheer for you, and take pictures with you, and have you sign they're Playbills. I just love it – seeing actual people up close and personal who tell you 'you did a great job tonight' or 'I love this show' or anything like that. I've never really had anyone insult me that bad, but Alice says that when she was in California, a lady came up to her after her show-concert and said that her dress made her look fat. Alice says that she said 'Actually, I think I look fantastic', turned around, and started crying. I really hope that never happens to me.

"Hey! Rachel!" There was a banging on my door. _Adam_. "You ready to go out yet?"

"One second!" You see, Adam and I try to go out together most of the time. The people love to see Natalie and Henry together. I flung Natalie's shoes off my feet and stepped into my own, yelling: "Be right there!" I opened the door, and he was there waiting, just like yesterday.

"You want to go, Nat?" He asked, just like he does at the end of the _Make Up Your Mind / Catch Me I'm Falling _scene.

"Yes, Henry," I said, mimicking how sad and upset Natalie feels in that scene. "Yes I would!" We linking arms, and skipped – well, I skipped, he 'walked with bounce' – off to meet the people.

"You two were fantastic together!" A fan's mother said, as the girl fumbled to get her camera out.

"Thank you so much!" I smiled big, but it wasn't a show-face. The fan took pictures of us, and some pictures with us. We signed some Playbills together, and sang a few bars of _Perfect For You _and then _Perfect For You (Reprise)_. When it was time to come back in, after posing with everyone and singing with everyone and laughing while signing autographs, I was the last to go. Aaron held the door for me, but ran into his dressing room to open a box he got at the stage-door, which turned out to be chocolates for us, shared with only himself, Kyle Dean, and Bobby. Once I was outside my dressing room is when it _really _started.

"You were great," said an all too familiar voice. That's when I turned around, and saw her.

"Shelby…you stayed."

"I said that I would, didn't I?"

"But you…_stayed_. The show ended twenty minutes ago." She smiled, and I opened the door saying: "Come in," and we were back to where we were before the show started. Only now, I had just been on an emotional rollercoaster as another person, and she had witnessed it.

"You…you were _phenomenal_." I smiled. "You were _me_…" My smile flattened. "Do you miss it?" She asked after a long pause.

"Miss what?" I really didn't know what she meant.

"Lima. School. Life as a teenager. All of it."

"No," I said. "And yes. It's just…" I sighed. "I don't really have the chance to miss it. I…I wonder sometimes…what it would have been like. I mean, if my dads didn't let me audition in the first place. If I was living still in Lima, Ohio." She nodded, and there was another pause. "Does it hurt, Shelby?" I blurted out the question. "Does it hurt to…to come here and…and not be the star? To be here and not have _made it here_?"

"It always hurts," she said, looking right past me. "At first it kind of felt like a slap to the face. Then I started to get why parents sometimes live through they're kids…" she looked down, laughed a little, and shook her head. "I…I…" she sighed. "I just always thought I'd be here, and I'm not. It's not so bad now, but…the slap still stings."

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Wow," Shelby said, with another sigh. "We've both missed a lot, haven't we?"

"What…what do you mean?"

"Time in Lima didn't just stop when you left, Rachel," she said. "People move on, people grow…" I nodded at her to continue. She knew I wasn't going to bring up the elephant in the room. "Her name's Beth by the way," Shelby smiled all of a sudden. "Elizabeth Rachel Corcoran."

That killed me inside.

"I don't understand," I whispered honestly. "You're my mom…I should be happy right now, but I…" I shook my head. "I wish you the best, Shelby. I really do. And maybe…maybe I can meet her one day."

"Absolutely," she smiled still. "Beth has to meet her sister."

I died inside again.

She got up to leave, and I got up to show her out. But as we crossed the stage to get to the stage door, we both sort of involuntarily stopped at Charlie's piano.

"Shelby, will you sing with me, before you go?" I blurted another question. "It's always sort of been a fantasy of mine."

"I'd be honored."

"Charlie!" I called for the leader of our band, and the piano player. "He's always just…around," I explained with a shrug. In another second, the bald and always adorable Charlie showed himself, saluted to me, and sat down at his place at the piano. I took a piece of his sheet music – he didn't need it; he plays these songs every night! – and slid it in Shelby's direction. Charlie started playing the pretty intro music, and it started.

"_Maybe I've lost it at last_

_Maybe my last lucid moment has past_

_I'm dancing with death, I suppose._

_But really, who knows?_

_Could be I'm crazy to go._

_They say you should stay with the devil you know_

_But when life needs a change_

_And the one devil won't_

_You fight to the devil you don't_

_Maybe I'm tired of the game_

_Of coming up short of the rules, of the shame_

_And maybe you feel that way too._

_I see me in you_

_A girl full of anger and hope_

_A girl with a mother who just couldn't cope_

_A girl who felt caught_

_And thought no one could see_

_That maybe one day she'll be free._"

It was my turn, but I could barley open my mouth. What was wrong with me? I sang this with Alice every night! _C'mon_, _Rachel! _I told myself. _You literally sing this on a daily basis! _But Alice wasn't standing there. Shelby was.

"_It's so lovely that you're sharing_

_No, really, I'm all ears_

_But where has all this caring been_

_For sixteen years?_

_For all those years I'd pray that_

_You'd go away for good?_

_Half the time afraid that you really would!_

_When I thought you might be dying_

_I cried for all we've never be_

_But there'll be no more crying_

_Not for me!_"

"_Things will get better you'll see!_"

"_Not for me!_"

"_You'll see!_"

"_Not for me!_"

"_You'll see – _"

"_Not for me_ – "

"_You'll see!_"

Charlie continued to play beautifully, as always, as we paused. Shelby was looking straight at me, and I was trying my best to look at her. Then she continued the song:

"_Maybe we can't be okay_

_But maybe we're tough and we'll try anyway_

_We'll live with what's real_

_Let go of what's past_

_And maybe I'll see you at last._" Then she paused to speak the line that Diana speaks mid-song:

"We tried to give you a normal life," she paused somehow perfectly. "I realize now, I have no clue what that is." Natalie's answer was my favorite lyric of the entire show.

"_I don't need a life that's normal_

_That's way too far away _

_But something next to normal_

_Could be okay_

_Yes, something next to normal_

_That's the thing I'd like to try_

_Close enough to normal_

_To get by._"

"_We'll get by_."

"_We'll get by_."

The music ended, and we hugged.

"This isn't goodbye, Rachel," she said. "I…I'll call you."

"Okay," I whispered, and we hugged again. "Goodbye, Shelby." Then she left with that same _vis-vis _that I heard when she came in.

And she still hadn't called me.

_She's not there, she's not there, she not there. _

**Next chapter: (I promise!) Rachel actually interacting with the whole glee club – some glee drama, etc. Shelby will come up again, but not a whole lot until later. **

**Remember to review! :) **


	8. Conversational Duets

**I'm going away for a week, but I think I'll be able to update from where I am if I have time to write anything. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Remember: review, please! :) Thanks and enjoy. **

Natalie: "_I can't do this. Not with_ my_ life! I'm one-fuck up from disaster!_"

Henry: "_Your life is _not _a disaster! …_"

_Chapter Seven_

_Finn's POV_

"Hey guys," said Mr. Schue as he walked in, a few minutes late. "Sorry I'm a little late, I – "

"Don't make any excuses, Mr. Schue!" Santana laughed. "We _know _you were busy mackin' on Miss Pillsbury!" Mr. Schuster didn't respond to that, only walked to the front of the room after putting his coffee down on the table in the corner.

"So guys," he said, uncapping an erasable marker for the dry-erase board. "I came up with great idea for this week's assignment!" He wrote in big, green letters on the board: _Duets_.

"Um, didn't we do that already, Mr. Schue?" Quinn asked with her hand half-raised.

"Yes, Quinn, we did do _duets_ already…" he answered. So why did he just write that on the board? "But this time around, it's a little bit different…" Above the word _Duets_, he added: _(Conversational)_. Now, with one word in purple and one in green, it read: _(Conversational) Duets_. Rachel started laughing when she read what he had written. Wait…what was so funny?

"Mr. Schue," Sam started. "What's a…_conservational duet_?"

"That's _conversational_, Sam," Mr. Schuster corrected the boy with dyslexia. "And a conversational duet is a duet where the two people literally answer each other through the song." Rachel was still sitting there, laughing a little.

"What's so funny, new girl?" Puck asked her from where he sat, Quinn under his arm.

"Um, Puck," I interrupted him. "Her name's Rachel, not 'new girl'."

"Th-thanks…" Rachel said to me, and then looked back to Puck. "It's just…kind of an inside joke. You see, _Next Normal _is famous for having conversational duets on the stage, in a more modern fashion. Broadway shows have had them before, sure, but never in the contemporary way that we have."

"Like…like what?" Artie asked.

"Mr. Schue," Kurt's hand flew into the air. "Would you allow Rachel and I to demonstrate?" He looked at Rachel, and she nodded at him, flashing that smile of hers.

"Sure, Kurt, I think that's a great idea!" Mr. Schue said, and stepped out of the way for Rachel and Kurt to get to the front of the room. Rachel whispered something to Brad, and he gave her a thumbs up.

"_Hey_," Kurt sang, starting the song, and Rachel laughed. Apparently, he sang in a much higher key then her co-star, from what she mouthed at him.

"_Hey_," she answered in song.

"_I've missed ya' these days_," Kurt continued, still in a higher key. "_I thought you might call – it's been weeks!_"

"_I've been crazed!_" She answered, still singing while fighting back giggles.

"_Hey_, _hey! Have you been on the scene? 'Cause you look like a mess!_"

"_Thanks, I guess!_"

"_Are you clean_?"

"_Well, coming from you – _" The tempo picked up a little as Kurt continued with:

"_I don't do what you do – _"

"_Okay, who did it start?_"

"_But you took it too far!_"

"_Oh, _I _took it too far? Henry, don't! Don't do this to me!_"

"_Are we over? Don't say that we're over!_" Everyone laughed at Kurt singing that last line to Rachel.

"_Don't you want us to be?_"

"_No! I want who I knew – she's somewhere in you_." They both paused for a moment as Brad played a little more. They smiled at each other until Kurt continued the song. "_Hey, say, will you come to this dance? It's the spring formal dance. It's March 1rst – and it's cheese. But it's fun and it's free!_" Rachel had to control her laughter as she sang:

"_I don't do dances!_"

"_Do this dance with me._"

"_Goodbye, Henry_."

Brad played the last few notes of the song, and Rachel and Kurt had all but exploded into giggles.

"See how that was like a conversation?" Mr. Schue said, taking his place again in the front of the room, Rachel and Kurt sitting back down. "Great job, you too."

"I don't think Adam's a soprano…" Rachel whispered in Kurt's ear as they sat back down.

"Now," Mr. Schue continued. "I want you all to pair up and work on a conversational duet for the assignment, due at the end of the week."

"Awesome," said Puck. "I pick Quinn."

"No, too easy!" Mr. Schue said, picking up something from the table next to his coffee. As it turns out, it was an old top hat. He shook it and said: "Your partners will be decided by fate!"

"_Oooooooh_!" Went a chorus of voices.

"Okay," Mr. Schue put the hat down on Brad's piano in front of us. "Who wants to pick first?" To everyone's surprise, Santana was the first one to get up. She pulled a scrap of paper from the old hat, read it to herself, and smiled a _Cheshire Cat _smile.

"Brittany!" She read out aloud, and the turned around to sit down again, next to the blonde.

"_Cheap_!" Puck jested.

"Why don't you go next, Puck?" Mr. Schuster said to him. He got up, and picked a scrap of paper. After he picked the name, he sighed, and read:

"Mercedes." Last time those two worked together on an assignment, it didn't end well…if you remember what I mean. There was no reaction from the girl in question at all, besides the classical eye-roll.

"Finn," Mr. Schue called my name, making me jump. "Why don't you pick next?"

"Okay," I said, getting up and walking towards the old top hat. I felt around through the many scraps of cut-up paper until I was sure that I had picked the right one. I pulled the piece of paper, and read it to myself. I _had _picked the right one. Thank God!

"Rachel."

**Sorry this is a little shorter, it'll be extra long next time!**

**Lyrics: **_**Hey 1 **_**from **_**Next To Normal**_**.**

**So…review? Please? :)**


	9. Script Changes And Phone Calls

**So I'm away on a sort-of-vacation right now, and the Internet here is really crappy, so that's why I might not get that many updates to you. But here you go. Thanks for all the reviews, and remember to review please! :) Thanks and enjoy.**

Natalie: "_I'm very far from perfect on a very difficult piece. What's your excuse?_"

Henry: "_I just like to play_."

Natalie: "_Well isn't that sweet?_"

_Chapter Eight _

_Rachel's POV_

"Rachel?"

But I was too busy playing. Thank God we had a grand piano. Bet ya' thought that when Natalie plays the piano, the pianist actually plays and I just move my fingers around on a turned-off keyboard, right? Nope. _Perfect – just play it perfect. _I'd sing any other time but now. _For just one miserable day, let my life be okay. Let it all be all right. Let me play it just right… _

'Invention in C' is harder to learn then I thought it would be, and I've been taking piano since I was five. But Natalie's a perfectionist – it just figures that _she'd _want to play _this _piece, right? Ugh. If Mozart was crazy, then why is his music so hard to learn? _…And you scan through the score and put fingers on keys and you play. And everything else goes away…_ Just when I thought I had the hang of all this, I hit a completely wrong key. Multiple times in a row. I slammed on the keys, and screamed a word that rhymes with 'duck' a couple of times a little to loudly.

"Rachel Barbra Berry! If I hear that word come out of your mouth one more time, I – "

"Sorry, Dad!" I yelled into the other room.

I got why they didn't want me to swear before – I was younger and everything. But now I'm in a show where that same word is in lyrics _and_ lines! Hell, Natalie says it all the time! I'd like to see what their reaction would be if I ever played Wendla in _Spring Awakening_, especially when she screams: '_We're all just so totally fucked!_' at the top of her lungs, and her and Melchior lead the cast in their big group number, _Totally Fucked_. Yup, it's a song. And it's fuckin' kick-ass. S'cuse me, I mean 'freakin' kick-butt'. Yeah. Actually, scratch that. If I were ever to play Wendla, I don't know if I'd let them be in walking distance of the theater – just because that part requires partial nudity. Totally awkward.

It's kind of funny, actually. Natalie's sixteen, and a little less then half way through the musical, she starts to try drugs, goes to clubs, and drinks. I've only ever tried alcohol once, and that was under the super-vision of my cast-mates, and I get scolded if I even swear at all. Maybe it's because she's 'invisible' and I'm not. Or maybe it's because she has a dead brother who her mother sees, and her dad is obsessed with getting her mom 'better', and her boyfriend's 'a bit of a stoner'. But same thing.

That's when it hit me – I had to call Adam back. I closed the keys at the piano, walked up the stairs and into my room. My phone was sitting there on my bed, probably thrown there haphazardly when I didn't really care where I put it. I pressed speed-dial four, and his number came up, next to a picture of us. I pressed _send _and it was ringing.

"Hey girl!" It was Kyle Dean who answered. "I've been missing you, little sweetheart! How's cow-town?" He made his southern accent slur the words to be funny.

"Hey KD!" I smiled – I hadn't talked to him in a while. "Wait…why do you have Adam's phone?"

"He's doing a quick workshop for the _RENT _rival," he explained. "And I was just sittin' here all by my lonesome when I heard his phone ring. I'm waitin' for Bryan to get out of his _Pricilla _workshop." Bryan was Kyle Dean's boyfriend – they'd been going strong for about three years now. By _Pricilla_, he meant _Pricilla: Queen of the Desert_. That's one of those musicals that I'd never really looked into, but only heard great things about.

"Bryan, huh?" I flopped over on my bed. "How's _that _goin'?"

"None of your beeswax, little girl," he answered quickly, but seemed almost humored by my asking. "But enough about me!" But we've hardly even talked about him. "How are you holding up in Lima?"

"It's the middle of no-where!" I answered at first, then added: "But the people here are surprisingly…not that bad. I mean, yeah, most of them are gonna spend the rest of their lives in this one-horse town and never get away, but…" I looked for the right words. "It's surprisingly…charming."

"Gotta _love_ that southern charm!" He spoke with a thick southern accent again.

"Actually, genius, Ohio is in the Midwest," I corrected him. "But same thing."

"Hey, Meghann just got out of her workshop," Kyle Dean said. "Bryan's gets out in ten minutes, Adam's gets out in five." He informed me. "Want to talk to her?"

"To Meghann?" I shrugged. "Okay!" He must have given her the phone, because I heard what sounded like a muffled 'it's Rachel', followed by a little static. Then she put the phone to her ear and said:

"Hey Rach!" One thing about Meghann – she never fails to cheer you up, even when she's not even trying.

"Hey, Meg," I smiled. "How's _Samantha Brown_?"

"It's great!" She answered happily. "I actually think it might go to theater! Regional and all, but still!"

"Are you gonna take the part to theater, then?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Would she really_ leave_ N2N?

"First of all, I don't even know if I'll get it _offered _to me," she said. "But…" she must have shrugged. "Who knows what'll happen?" A.k.a. – she has no idea what she'll do. "How've you been?"

"I'm holding up," I said. I wasn't really sure if it was a lie or the truth. "I can't wait to get back home though! I'm counting down the days!" Meghann laughed.

"Did you get the Broadway script yet?"

You see, every show modifies their scripts to get up to Broadway-standards when they move from Off-Broadway to Broadway. Usually it's not much – just a couple of line or lyric changes. Sometimes they'll drop a song or add a new one, but usually that's no big deal. We practice all the potential numbers that could be added to the show, so we already pretty much know them. I had completely forgotten about the new script arriving. Our director said he'd send me a copy when I told him about going back to Lima for the summer. How did I _forget _about that? That's huge! That's probably why Adam wanted me to call him – we knew that they were planning on making lyric changes to the lyrics to _Perfect For You_.

"Not yet," I answered. "But I'm really excited! Is that why Adam told me to call?"

"I think so," she said. "I think Adam got his already. I haven't been back to the Booth for a couple days," she admitted. "I've been pretty busy with _Samantha Brown _and all. Oh, hey! Here's Adam now, Rach. Talk to you soon!"

"Later Meg!" I called to her, and then Adam took the phone.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," I answered, laughing. "Are we _really _gonna go through the _Hey_'s right now?"

"Nah," he said. "Just wanted to see what you'd say. Or _sing_."

"So how's _RENT_?" I asked him. "They offer you the part of Roger yet?"

"First of all, it's just workshopping. Second – the rival won't even _make theater _for a whole other Broadway season, and third, I – "

"Okay, okay!" I cut him off, stilling laughing a little. "Forget I asked!"

"So…are you surviving in Lima, Ohio?"

"Nope. I've died." I said.

"Oh God, not another Gabe…" He probably shook his head sarcastically.

"Does that make you the Diana in this case?" I shot back.

"No, because you're not my daughter, _Natalie_…"

"I am so tempted to say '_Goodbye, Henry_' right now…"

"You do and I'll hang up on you!" He threatened.

"You give up _way _too easily." I recited.

"I like the way you think. Although, you're kind of a confusing person." I answered with the next line.

"You could say it runs in the family."

"Oh, by the way," he broke out of the lines after a quick laugh. "They left the Natalie-Henry scenes alone, for the most part…"

"For the most part?" I asked. "What'd they change on us?"

"Just some lines, not many. You'll get it once you get the script. They gonna mail it to you?"

"Yeah," I answered. "It's supposed to come any day now. But…but what'd they change?"

"Well, they changed up the dialogue for _Feeling Electric_, because now it's _Wish I Were Here_, but we practiced that…"

_Feeling Electric _was what the show was originally called, way back when our writers got the idea for what eventually became _Next To Normal_ – but we knew that number was getting cut, so we've been practicing with _Wish I Were Here _for a while now. It's the same deal as _Feeling Electric_ – Diana gets ECT treatments while Natalie goes partying and gets buzzed. Some of the lyrics are even the same in both songs.

"Okay, okay, I'll deal with the dialogue when I get the script," I said. "What'd they do to _Perfect For You_?"

"They changed up some of the lyrics, but it's nothing major, don't worry…" he tried to calm me down. "Nothing to go crazy over."

"Crazy is perfect…" I murmured under my breath. "Adam, I – " But I was stopped by the doorbell ringing. Oh yeah. I forgot that I had asked Finn over today to rehearse our glee club assignment today. "Sorry, Adam, I gotta go. Talk to later okay?"

"Um, okay…bye, Rachel…"

"Bye!" And I hung up the phone, and answered the door.


	10. Perfect For You

**So like I said, the Internet is really, really, **_**really **_**crappy here, but I'm doing the best I can with what I've currently got. I hope you like this update, I sure do, and remember to **_**review please**_**! :) Thanks and enjoy.**

_Chapter Nine_

_Finn's POV_

"Hey!" A raspy voice called from inside the mail-truck that was pulled up at the curb. "Finny!"

"Darren?" I asked. I hadn't seen him since I was a kid…since he broke my mom's heart and left her for that blonde chick. She threw the milk at him and he drove away with the blonde, singing a _Journey_ song, like he didn't even care. He looked…out of shape. He'd lost most of his hair and had a lot of random tattoos. He kind of reminded me of that guy from _The Hangover _now, only he looked worse. He was _not at all_ like the rock-n'-roll Darren that my mom was with. "You're a mailman now?"

"Gotta keep bread on the table. Hey, how've you been, kid?"

"Um…good…" this was weird.

"You goin' in there?" He jerked his head toward Rachel's house.

"Yeah…"

"They got _a lot _of mail. Take it in so I don't have to deliver it personally, would ya'? Don't really feel like gettin' outta da truck, kid. It's _waaaaay _too hot out!"

"Um…okay…" he handed me a bunch of envelopes, a couple of magazines, and a giant stack of paper that was big enough to be an unpublished novel. It was heavy, too, and I wondered what it was. I'd have to ask Rachel once I got inside.

"You take care of yourself, Finny Hudson," he said, nodding at me. "Maybe we'll meet again one day." Then he drove away, the mail-truck making a _clonck_ing noise as he went.

"Goodbye, Darren…" and I stood there for a moment afterwards.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but it seemed as though Darren was like a lost little boy, crying for help deep down in his soul. Or maybe he was a weird form of wise, like the smoking caterpillar in _Alice In Wonderland_. Or maybe he just had no brain cells left in his head at all.

But whatever.

I stepped up the three stone-looking steps to Rachel's front porch and rang the doorbell. I was hopping that someone would hurry up and answer the door because it was, like – what, over a hundred degrees out today? I needed air-conditioning more then words could describe. But I waited, with the mail in my hands, hoping that someone would hear the doorbell ring already. Then, it was Rachel who finally answered.

"Uh, hey, Finn!" He said, as if she had just ran down the stairs and threw down whatever else she was doing. "You, um…you want to come inside?"

"Sure, th-thanks," I said, trying not to look too relieved. God, I really hoped that I wasn't sweating all that much.

"What's that you've got with you?" She asked, leading me into what must have been their kitchen. It was nicely decorated and had one of those long, granite-topped islands that my mom has always wanted/

"Um, your mail," I said. "I hope you don't mind, but your mailman gave it to me…so…"

"Here," she said. "Just put it down on the island." I did as I was told, and she started looking through the mail. She looked over the covers of the magazines, seeing Jennifer Lopez on the cover of _Vanity Fair_, and reading the headlines on the covers of _People_ and _Us Weekly_. Then when her eyes met the giant stack of paper, they got all wide. She gasped for a second, and breathed out a small '_Oh my God_'.

"What is that?" I asked.

"That's my script. My revised, Broadway script."

"Thank God Kurt's not here," I said. "He'd grab it and run away!" She laughed for about a second, then grabbed the script as greedily as Kurt would have grabbed it.

"Want to come up to my room?" She asked. "Um…my IPod dock's up there and it's kind of where I do most of my singing now a days…besides in glee, I mean…"

"Okay," I shrugged, and she led me up the stairs. I opened the door for her because her hands were full, and she eyed me like she wasn't expecting it.

"Th-thanks…" she said, walking into her room.

"No problem."

"So…" she said after a pause. "Sit down, get comfortable." I sat next to her on the bed, her new script in-between us. She opened it, and I tried to read it upside-down, but couldn't really tell what it said. She had it open to a specific page, as if she were sure that there'd be changes to look for. The only parts I could read were:

_Natalie: You're stoned!_

_Henry: Nat, I – _

_Natalie (interrupting him): Look, I can't do this. Not with my life! I'm one fuck-up from disaster!_

_Henry: Your life is not a disaster! The environment is a disaster! _Sprint_ is a disaster!_

_Natalie: Um, okay?_

_(Music starts – Natalie walks a little stage right, as to try to get away. Henry cuts her off. Sings – )_

Then there were some lyrics to what would probably be a really pretty song. You know, if the right people sang it. Just from what I've heard her sing in glee, I was sure that Rachel was one of those few, rare people. It wasn't a conversational duet – well, it _kind of _was. Some lines weren't, some lines were, so I wasn't really sure. Like one of the lines, that went:

_Henry: Our planet is poisoned, the oceans, the air_

_ Around and beneath and above you._

_Natalie: Um, Henry that's true and I totally care?_

_Henry: I'm trying to tell you I love you!_

_Natalie (spoken): What?_

And then there were some parts of the song that only Henry sang, and some that only Natalie sang, but they weren't like a conversation. The song still consisted like a conversation, but more in the show-tunes way then in the literally-a-conversation-in-song way. Rachel closed the script and sighed.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Oh, nothing Finn…" she wasn't looking me in the eye.

"Really, Rachel…you – you can tell me…"

"But I hardly know you!" She looked up at me now, and waited for a beat…two beats…three beats, and then shook her head. "Sorry," she said. "I…I just…I'm sorry."

"No problem," I said. "Really, it's no problem."

"It's just…" she sighed again. "It's all changed up now. I mean, I shouldn't be upset. It's not really _that _much change, it's just…it'll never be the same."

"No," I said, smiling at her. "It'll be better."

She looked up and smiled at me. She whispered a small 'thank you'. I responded with an almost equally as small 'no problem', and that was that.

"So…" she said, now a smile on her face. "What got you into glee?"

"It's kind of complicated," I said. "Mr. Schue took over glee club, and no one was really joining except for Kurt, Tina, Artie and Mercedes, but we needed twelve to be able to compete. Mr. Schuster heard me singing in the shower and asked me to join. Then Quinn and Santana followed, and Puck and Mike and, well," I shrugged. "That's how it all happened. What about you? You've always wanted to be on Broadway?"

"That was the dream, anyway," her face lit up, talking about what she loved. "I did some stage work and workshopping when I was younger and all, but nothing like this. I used to do all that with kids my age and everything, but…N2N is _nothing _like that…"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You see, it's only six of us, and I'm the only young girl. Not that Alice is _old_," she added quickly. "But she plays my mom, you know…I mean, half of the cast is made up of adults, and half is made up of teenagers. Well, Adam and Aaron aren't teenagers, really, they're in their twenties, but you know what I mean…"

"That must be…weird," I said. "Always hanging out with older people."

"Well…I don't know…" she shifted her weight. "There are some shows, like _Spring Awakening_, where it's almost _all _teenagers! But with _Next To Normal_, you know, it's different. It's just the six of us and our understudies…and…" she shook her head. "I don't know. I shouldn't be unloading all of this on you. Sorry."

"No, actually, it's kind of cool to hear about!" I said to her. "I mean, you're _my age _and you're…you know, on a _Broadway stage _every night!"

"Well, I _will _be," she said. "I mean, we're coming to Broadway after the summer."

"Maybe I'll see you preform one day," I smiled at her.

"Yeah," she said in a whispery voice. "Maybe you will."

Then there was a pause – a total stop to the air in the room, to the time in our space. It was like torture, because of the nothingness…but it was like perfection, because I just got to look at her.

"So, we…we should get started on the assignment now, shouldn't we?"

"Um yeah…" I said. "I guess we should. Anything you've got in mind at all?"

"Well…there is this one song. See, that song I was looking at earlier…it used to be a conversational duet. Now it's not anymore. And…"

"And you want to do it justice one last time?"

"Yeah," I said. "I really do."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Okay guys," said Mr. Schue in our next glee practice. "Does anyone have this week's assignment ready?"

"Mr. Schue," I said, looking him, then at Rachel, then back to him. "I think we've got ours ready."

"Okay," said our teacher, gesturing to the front of the room. "Whenever you're ready." We nodded at each other, then stepped up to the front of the room.

"This song is r-really special to me," Rachel said to everyone. "So I wanted to share this version of it with you guys, for one last hurrah before it's changed forever." She nodded at everyone, and then looked to Brad. He mouthed 'okay' at her and started playing. I started off the song:

"_Our planet is poison, the oceans the air_

_Around and beneath and above you._"

"_Um Henry that's true and I totally care?_" Rachel responded in song.

"_I'm trying to tell you I love you!_"

"_What?_" She spoke. I kept singing my part:

"_The world is at war_

_Filled with death and disease_

_We dance on the edge of destruction_

_The globe's getting warmer by deadly degrees_ – "

"_And this is one fucked up seduction!_" She sang, everyone laughing, except a rare, stern-teacher look from Mr. Schuster. I kept the song going, singing:

"_This planet is pretty much broken beyond all repair,_

_But one thing is working if you're standing there!_

_Perfect for you, I could be perfect for you._

_I might be lazy, a loner, a bit of a stoner it's true,_

_But I could be perfect for you, perfect for you!_" I paused as Brad played, and then I continued:

"_Airplanes are falling from quiet blue skies _– "

"_My schedule's a total disaster!_" She answered in song.

"_The world shuts its ears when a starving child cries – _"

"_We'd sink like Titanic but faster!_"

"_Tsunamis and hurricanes crash on the beach_ – "

"_You'll crash even worse if you date me!_"

_And peace somehow always stays out of our reach_

"_I'll freak and we'll fight and you'll hate me._" She spoke-sang that line so perfectly, that you could tell how long she'd worked on it to make it that, well, _perfect_. I continued the song:

"_This world may get more and more messed up with each passing year,_

_But we can be flawless, just you and me here!_

_Perfect for you! _

_Just let me be perfect for you!_

_We're both slightly crazy – _

_But you, you amaze me, you do!_

_I'll make myself perfect, perfect for you._

_You square all the corners_

_I straighten the curves!_"

"_You've got some nerve, Henry,_

_And I'm just all nerves!_" She answered.

"_But even if everything else turns to dirt – _" After I sang that one line, we both sang the next one:

"_You can be the one thing in this world that won't hurt._" Then I spoke-sang:

"_I can't fix what's fucked up_

_But one thing I know I can do,_

_I can be perfect for you._"

"_I can be perfect for you._" She answered in song, smiling at me. The we both ended the song with one last line:

"_Perfect for you!_"

**Lyrics: **_**Perfect For You **_**(Unrevised Version)**

**So…review? **_**Pleeeeease**_**? :)**


	11. Friend Request Me

**Sorry this took so long – blame crappy Internet, but I'm back home now! Anyway, this chapter's a little different, but I hope you like it. Please note that Meghann Fahy (u/s Natalie) actually didn't get offered the main role in **_**The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown **_**until after N2N closed, but I wanted to put this in the story. Remember to review! :) Thanks and enjoy.**

Diana: "_It only hurts when I breathe._"

Dan: "_It only hurts when I try._"

Gabe: "_It only hurts when I think._"

Natalie: "_It only hurts when I cry._"

Dan: "_It only hurts when I work._"

Natalie: "_It only hurts when I play._"

Gabe: "_It only hurts when I move._"

Diana: "_It only hurts when I say –_"

All: "_It's just another day!_"

_Chapter Ten_

_Rachel's POV_

It was 8:42 am when my phone went off. I sat up in bed and blinked quickly for a second before actually realizing what was going on. I knew it was Aaron calling because _I'm Alive _blared, his customized ringtone, as I searched for my phone. Aaron's voice had only reached '_…When I appear it's not so clear if I'm a single spirit or I'm flesh and blood! But I'm alive, I'm alive, I am so alive…_' once I located the cellphone that had somehow gotten tossed under my bed. By the time the song had progressed to '…_I'm your wish, your dream come true – and I am your darkest nightmare, too_…' I had gotten my fingers around it and was able to answer the phone by the time his voice sang '…_But I'm alive, I'm alive, I am so alive – and I'll tell you the truth if you let me try. You're alive, I'm alive – and I'll show you why. I'm alive – so alive – I'm alive! _...'

"Hey!" I answered, finally putting the phone to my ear. "What's up my brother?"

"I need a _huge_ favor," it wasn't my stage-brother on the other end, but my understudy.

"Meg?" I asked. "Why do you have Aaron's phone?"

"He's doing some work-shopping for _Catch Me If You Can_," she explained. "And I just got out of mine for _Sam Brown_. But Rach…they offered me the part."

"Oh, Meghann that's amazing!" I cheered. "When does it go to theater?"

"That's the problem," she mumbled. "We don't really _have _a theater to go to. It won't even make Off-Broadway 'til the 2011-2012 season. And at this rate with dealing with other shows all getting put in the right theaters, we won't have a place to rehearse 'til…"

"…A long, long time. I get it," I answered. Meg wouldn't be leaving us here at N2N for a while, then – I didn't have to worry about getting a new understudy for a long time yet. "So…why do you need _my _help? I'm in freakin' Lima, remember?"

"Exactly," Meghann said. "Look, I know this isn't exactly…conventional for a Regional performance to do…but…" she paused, then started up again: "Rach, I really, really think this show could go places. I…I am Sam the way you are Natalie. Do you understand that?"

"Of course, Meghann…I-I understand that. But…?"

"You're in a public high school, right?" She cut me off.

"Yeah – "

"Rach, this might sound crazy, but you know better then anyone that crazy is perfect…" she took a deep breath. "I need your help. Does your school have an open auditorium?"

"Um, yeah," I said. "But it's _nothing near _a regional-production stage. And – "

"Rach, I'm despite here. I _need _this character to go on. I really don't care if it's on a Broadway stage or behind a dumpster somewhere."

"Okay but…Meg, we're gonna have to convince my principle…"

"Leave _that _to me!" She snapped her fingers. "I'll be on the quickest flight to Ohio. It might take a while to get the rest of the cast down to the Midwest, but I'll be there a.s.a.p." I smiled. It'd been a long time since I hung out with Meghann – not that she was coming here to hang out. She was coming for work. And I was here for…whatever I was here for.

"And Natalie Goodman?" I flinched when she called me that name. "Thanks."

"No problem, Samantha Brown," I smiled, said: "see ya' in a couple days," and hung up the phone. "Hey Dad!" I yelled, running out of my room and down the stairs. Dad looked up from his paper.

"You're up early," he said with a small smile.

"Meghann called," I explained.

My dads love Meghann – you see, Meg's twenty-one, and even though she's my understudy, she's sort of been like an older sister to me. Like when she was there for me when I thought I liked a guy but also totally hated him. Or when I almost freaked because I got my period a few days early so I didn't have a tampon. Or when I just felt like punching a wall or curling up in a corner and crying for reasons unknown.

"Great," he said, looking back to the paper, not really listening anymore. "How's Meg doing?"

"Do you think she can stay here for a while?"

He looked back up from his paper with a skeptical glare, and I explained everything that Meghann had told me over the phone. While I was in the middle of the story, Daddy walked in, and asked what was going on. I re-explained Meghann's phone call.

"Rachel…" he almost bit his lip. "Is that really a good idea?" My jaw pretty much dropped.

"But…but it's _Meghann_!" I added. "C'mon, please? Do it for _Meg_!" Because this really _wasn't _about _me _– it was about _Meghann_. "Please? I can call her right now and have _her _beg you herself! _Please_?"

"And what about her other cast-mates, huh?" Dad asked, one eyebrow raised.

"I don't expect you guys to house the entire cast of _Samantha Brown_!" I said. "Just Meghann! C'mon, you don't want her to have to waste her hard-earned money on a hotel room when she can just crash here, do you?" I gave my best puppy-dog eyes. "_Pleeeaaaase_?" From behind my back, I speed-dialed Meghann. They couldn't say no to her face – well, voice, since it's a phone call – could they? In one fluent motion, I pressed the 'send' button and put the now ringing phone up to my ear.

"Meghann Fahy," she answered all professionally with her full name.

"Cut the I'm-so-professional crap, Meg. It's me!"

"Oh, hey!" She brightened, and started to say something else, but I interrupted her.

"Shut up! I'm trying to help you!" And with that, I surrendered the phone to them so Meghann could make her case. _Finally_.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

_Finn's POV_

With a swish, Puck scored another basket. Two more points for him. I cursed under my breath. At this rate, he was going to _cream _me. When he said that he bet he could whip my ass at one-on-one, I didn't know he actually _meant _it. Before he could take his victory lap – for the, like, seventeenth time – his phone started buzzing. He bounce-passed the ball towards me before running over to where he put his phone down on the ground next to us.

"Quinn," he said, quickly typing a text. "She's tellin' me not to come over tomorrow night…something about an all girls' night or whatever. She says for you to tell Kurt to make a _Facebook _event."

"'K," I said, avoiding the subject of Quinn at all costs. When Puck left after all but killing me in basketball an hour later, I told Kurt what Puck said that Quinn said. He just nodded and grabbed his laptop.

"I'll make an event right now…" he said, typing away. "Who should I list as invited?"

"The glee girls, I guess," I shrugged. "And Blaine and yourself and –"

"Hey!" he said. "I didn't even realize I'm not _Facebook _friends with Rachel!"

"Then friend request her now," I said, peering over to see his computer screen.

"You wanna see her profile page, don't you?" Kurt made his voice all flirty. "I should known from that look in your eyes you got when you first saw her!" He shook his head. "Do I have to sing it? Finn and Rachel sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s – "

"Oh, shut up, will ya'?"

"You're not denying it!"

Since what happened with Quinn and the baby, I hadn't even looked at another girl. Then that night with Santana – which I still regret – and now…Rachel. Or actually, it should be – and now…Rachel_?_ There's just…something about her…

Kurt pulled her profile up, and we noticed right away that she didn't have very many friends on her friends list. The first ones we saw were Adam Chanler-Berat, Aaron Tveit, Meghann Fahy, Alice Ripley, and all people that I had never met or heard of before. Her profile picture was a picture of her, standing outside on a sunny day. She was standing back-to-back with another girl who looked sort of like her, only older with hair that wasn't as dark as Rachel's. On her wall we saw that she had posted the picture about a month ago. The caption underneath the picture said 'The Natalie's', and five people liked it. As we scrolled down, we saw the tags for the picture said 'Rachel Berry' and 'Meghann Fahy'. The comments box looked like this:

**Aaron Tveit: **More like Thing 1 and Thing 2.

_Kyle Dean Massey _and _Adam Chanler-Berat like this_

**Meghann Fahy: **Shut up dead boy

_ Rachel Berry, Adam Chanler-Berat, Kyle Dean Massey, Alice Ripley, Jessica Philips, Louis Hobson and Bobby Spencer like this_

**Aaron Tveit: **Even my own MOTHER?

_Alice Ripley likes this_

**Rachel Berry: **I think we know who the favorite child REALLY is

_Meghann Fahy, Jessica Philips and Alice Ripley like this_

Kurt and I exchanged a glance before clicking the arrow button to look at more pictures. Most of them were, according to Kurt, pictures from _Next To Normal_. One had Rachel singing while holding onto a fire pole. From the tags, the two boys in the picture where Adam Chanler-Berat and Aaron Tveit. The caption said: '_Superboy and the Invisible Girl_!' The comments said:

**Meghann Fahy: **Son of steel and daughter of air. He's a hero, a lover, a prince…

**Aaron Tveit: **…SHE'S NOT THERE!

_Rachel Berry, Kyle Dean Massey, Meghann Fahy and Adam Chanler-Berat like this_

Another picture was also a shot from the show – Rachel had tears in her eyes and was looking into a woman's eyes desperately. The tags said 'Rachel Berry' and 'Alice Ripley'. They were mid-song, and both of them looked really into it. The caption was: '_Maybe_' followed by a smiley-face that looked like it was sobbing. The comments under it were:

**Alice Ripley: **Why did you have to put that up here?

**Rachel Berry: **:O But you look GORGEOUS!

_Bobby Spencer, Louis Hobson, Jessica Philips, Aaron Tveit, Adam Chanler-Berat, Meghann Fahy and Kyle Dean Massey like this_

**Louis Hobson: **Listen to your doctor

_Rachel Berry likes this_

**Kyle Dean Massey: **Don't you mean 'phychopharmicaligist'?

_Alice Ripley and Jessica Philips like this_

In another second, we hear a _ding! _noise from the laptop. A tiny box appeared on the bottom of the screen. It said 'Rachel Berry has excepted your friend request.'

"Cool," Kurt said. "Now I'll invite her to Quinn's event. Then you can log on and friend request her if you want."

"Okay…cool…" and I did.


	12. Enter Meghann Fahy

**Yeah, not a lot to say tonight, just to remember to review. :) And no flames, please and thank you. Thanks and enjoy.**

Diana: "_Everything's going to be different now!_"

Natalie: "_I know what you mean_."

_Chapter Eleven _

_Rachel's POV_

The scene is set at Columbus airport later that night. Enter Meghann Fahy, stage right. Scratch that – Meghann Fahy's flight is delayed. So, the spotlight's up on Rachel Berry – that's me – sitting here all alone in an airport in Ohio. I am _so _tempted to start singing anything from _Catch Me If You Can _right now. Well, I've been waiting here for a while now, so I might as well just sing it in my head to make Aaron happy.

_Live in living color, let me take you for a ride – yes, I'm live in living color – so sit back and let me be your TV guide…_

A _bing! _noise from my IPhone shook me from the lyrics. I pulled it out of my pocket to see that I had a friend request from…Kurt Hummel. I smiled – no one from Lima had friend requested me yet. _Except_. In another second, another friend request popped up on the bottom of the screen. This one was from…Finn Hudson. I smiled ten times as big. _Double except._

I looked up and realized that people were starting to walk into the gate – Meg's flight must be here. I found out that I was right when I got a text from her saying just that. In a third _bing!_, something else from _Facebook _popped up – this one was an invite…to 'Quinn Fabray's Glee Sleepover'. Created by Kurt Hummel. _Will You Be Attending? _The little box asked. That's a good question, little box…well…Kurt will be there, and…I guess I should just go, right? Okay, okay…fine. I'll go. _Yes_, I clicked, and it gave me a list of who else was attending – Kurt Hummel, Mercedes Jones, Santana Lopez, Blaine Anderson, Brittany S. Peirce…

"Oh. My. _God_. Is that Rachel Berry?"

And when I looked up, there she was – Meghann Fahy. In about a half a second, we were already hugging.

"Meg! I missed you so much!"

"Aw Rach-y I missed you, too!" She answered. When we finally broke apart from the hug, there was another voice.

"What am I, Natalie Goodman, _invisible_?"

"Andy!" Andrew Durand – Off-Broadway actor and Meghann's current _Sam Brown _cast-mate. His golden, curly mop of hair was even more tasseled then usual from the flight. "You came too?"

"'Course I did, kiddo!" He all but lifted me into the air when he hugged me, spinning me around. "I couldn't _not_! I mean – Lima, Ohio? How much more awesome can it get?" I looked at Meghann, who was giggling.

"He wanted to come," she said. "And I said he could as long as he paid for his plane ticket."

"Which I did!" Andrew put in. "And I missed you, Rachel! We all miss you back home!"

"I miss you guys too," I said, a smile on my face. "Now c'mon. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day. Let's go down to baggage claim."

"Whatever you say, invisible girl!" Andy started walking, but I gave Meg a glance – she hugged me one more time. Wordlessly, the bond between us was totally and completely renewed – that strange, sister-like bond we've silently formed from all the emotional turmoil we've been through together, on-stage and off.

"I've _really _missed you guys," I said.

"I know," she answered. "We missed you, too, Rach-y-kens. Aaron and Adam were gonna go on a search-and-rescue mission. It's so weird without you around. It was like our baby was missing." She broke the hug apart, and she smiled at me. "But now it'll be different. Now I'm here. C'mon, let's catch up to Andy."

"Okay," I said, and she gave me another reassuring smile before we headed over to baggage claim.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx **

"What _am _I doing here?" Sue Sylvester grumbled. There we were in Principle Figgions's office the next day – me, Mr. Schue, Meghann and Andrew, and, for some weird reason, Coach Sylvester. Sue was in the back of the room, leaning on a bookcase behind Figgions. Andy was on the opposite side – leaning against the door, as if ready to make an escape. I was sitting in one of his pleather green chairs, next to Mr. Schuster in the other one. Meghann was on the right armrest of my chair, with one foot on the ground.

"Figgions what _is _she doing here?" Mr. Schue asked.

"Can I go now?" Sue asked yet another question.

"No, Sue, stay where you are!" Figgions yelled to the cheerleading coach. "Now, if someone would please _calmly _explain to me what they need to explain to me, we can all go on our merry way."

"Principle Figgions, if you please would just give us but a moment of your time – hey, is it okay if I call you Figgy?" Meghann started, standing up. "I don't know if you know who we are – " she motioned to me and Andy, and we grouped behind her – this could only mean one thing…Meghann had a plan – and when Meghann had a plan, something big was bond to happen. Whether it was a good thing or a bad thing remained to be seen.

"What are you _doing_?" Andrew whispered in her ear.

"_Shhh_!" she jeered at him. "I have a plan. Just go with it."

"But – "

"Anyway," Meg continued, pacing and drawing a hand across Figgions's desk. "My name is Meghann Fahy. And this – " she jerked her thumb at me. "Is _Rachel Berry_. She's an up-and-coming Broadway _star_." I gulped. "And me? I'm her understudy. Do you know what that means?"

Figgions shook his head 'no'.

"What it means, is," she shot a look at me, as if telling me to play along. "If this girl here cannot preform, then I go on for her. Currently, our show is _hitting Broadway by storm_." Well, we would be…I hope. "And this – " She jerked her thumb at Andy now. "Is Andrew. Our servant boy!"

"Your _what_?" Andrew demanded in her ear, but she shooed him quite, and continued. "So, obviously, both of us are very close to the President of Broadway…"

The…_what_? _The what_? There's no President of Broadway!

"Right!" I added. A little white lie never hurt anyone. "We're _really _tight with Mr. President!"

"And, you see," Meghann shook her head, as if she were saying 'what a shame'. "Mr. President isn't so happy with _you_…unfortunately, your school, Figgy, is very poor in the arts department…"

"Yeah!" I added. "_Very _poor in the arts department."

"_Very _poor," Andy echoed.

"_Shut up_, servant boy!" Meg elbowed him.

"_Wha_ – " he started to say, then after a small 'oh' said: "Yes master!"

"And…Mr. President doesn't like that very much…he may have no choice but to…" she stopped herself, and shot Figgions a sad, mournful look.

"Might have to…what?" He asked, all concerned. Was he really _buying _this?

"Might have to…Rachel, you tell the man!" She looked at me. "It's too painful!" _Say something good! _was what she might as well have said.

"Might have to shut the place down," I finished. "What a shame." Sue had a look on her face that was a strange combination of anger and confusing, and Mr. Schuster was nodding with big eyes at Figgions, taking the hint to play along.

"What…what can I do?" Figgions really _did _believe this! Wow, we're better actors then I thought!

"Well…" said Meg. "Can _could_…no, that's just…no."

"Please, tell me!"

"Well, okay!" She flashed him a smile. "You _could _take some budget money from the club with the highest budget and put it towards my new Off-Broadway musical…oh, and you could give us a place to practice, too…"

"The auditorium's yours!" Figgions said, his eyes wide. "And so is half of the Cheerios' budget!"

"Yes!" Andy and Meg exclaimed.

"_What_?" Sue demanded. "You're not actually falling for this, are you?"

"Well, Sue, you heard the girl – apparently my hands are tied!"

"You heard her, Sue," Mr. Schue was _loving _this. "What do you want from the guy?" Then, Sue marched over to Meg, Andy and I, and gave us a cold, angry glare.

"I'll get you for this," she sneered. "And your little glee club, too!" And she stormed out, without another word.

"Thank you, Principle Figgions," I said. "I'm sure the President of Broadway will be _very _happy with you."

And all that was left to do was tell the glee club.

**Review? :)**


	13. I Am Here

**I know I want to use **_**Superboy and the Invisible Girl **_**in front of the glee kids soon, but only at an emotional moment. The quote below is from that song, and it's one of my favorite N2N quotes. :) Maybe an emotional moment will come up soon for Rachel. That's only because Jenn's best ever **_**Superboy **_**performance was her last one – not just because it was her last but because she was crying all through it. It was just so…incredible and…**_**moving**_** to see. **

**You guys should seriously YouTube **_**Superboy & The Invisible Girl - Jennifer Damiano, Kyle Dean Massey & Alice Ripley (LAST)**_** posted by **_**WickedMusicalBuffalo**_**. So. Freakin'. Beautiful. ****After she was done the entire audience was on their feet for her. :) Anyway, remember to review. Thanks and enjoy.**

Natalie: "…_he's your hero, forever your son – he's not here! I am here!_"

Diana: "_You know that's not true! You're our little pride and joy – our perfect plan! You know I love you – I love you as much as I can._"

Natalie: "_Take a look at the invisible girl – here she is, clear as the day! Please look closely and find her before she fades away…_"

_Chapter Twelve_

_Rachel's POV_

_Weeks Earlier – _

I swallowed hard, smoothing my hair down and then holding my hands on the back of my hips. This is what I usually do when I'm flustered, but am trying everything in my power not to be. It's just before the last show. Two weeks after what happened with Shelby. The day before we leave to move back to Lima. _Shit. Shit. Shit shit shit shit shitty shit shit_…

"Um…Rachel?" I turn around to see Meghann there, behind me. "Hey," she was smiling. Thank God she's not in costume now, though. If she was, that'd mean that she'd be preparing to jump on stage if need be – that'd mean everyone was thinking that something was wrong. But nothing's wrong. Nothing's wrong. Nope, nothing's wrong. I let out a breath of relief.

"Hey, Meg," I forced a show-face.

"Are…are you sure you're okay to preform?" Sometimes, I hate Meghann's job. Why does someone so nice like her have to have the job of replacing me? "Because I can always – "

"I'm fine!" I said quickly, cutting her off. "Really. Totally _fine_."

"Well…okay, then. But Rach, if you need to talk about something, you know I'll listen, right? I'm right here."

"I know, Meg," I almost whispered. "Thanks. It's just…last show, you know…"

"Yeah, of course. You sure there's nothing else?"

"Nope. Nothing."

"Alright then…" she turned around to go back into her dressing room after saying: "Break a leg, Rachel," with a smile.

"Thank you," I said, and turned to face the stage entrance again.

I took a deep breath, and saw the stage lights flickering – from purple to blue, from blue to gold, and back to purple again. The tech and lighting people were getting ready. I heard Charlie on the piano, and Damian on the drums, and the rest of the musicians playing along to the prelude. Then after a beat of silence, they played the music of _Aftershocks_, one of Aaron's songs, and then what sounded like _You Don't Know / I Am The One_, but I wasn't totally sure. Then I made out some of the riffs to _I'm Alive (Reprise)_, _The Break_, _Growing Up Unstable_, and, finally, _Superboy and the Invisible Girl_. That sent shivers down my spine.

Sometimes, I'm convinced that Natalie's the one that's real, and I'm just the character. Does that sound crazy?

She's the one with the story. She's the one with the life. She's the one who has a mom with a mental illness, a dad who's obsessed with medicating her, a dead brother who won't stop haunting her family, and a boyfriend who really, truly loves her. She's the one who's afraid of ending up like her mother, 'crazy' and 'useless'. She's the one who feels this dark pain inside her every night. She's the one who, though she'd never admit to it, wants to curl up in a corner and cry. She's the one who reacts on reflex to attention, as if she were angry at the world, because she doesn't know what to do with herself when the spotlight is turned on her. She's the one who, finally, lets herself believe that her boyfriend really, truly loves her, and finally just lets him love her, and lets herself love him, too.

And I'm just the one who plays her.

"Hey," Aaron was walking towards the entrance, until he was right next to me. "C'mon, Rach, it's places!" I hugged him, and he hugged back, and there was a moment of silence.

"Break a leg, bro," I told him.

"You too, sis," he answered. "You too."

Then the lights went up, and so did the curtain.

"Mom, what are doing?" Aaron said, in character now, walking on stage to see Alice, now Diana, sitting there on stage. "You haven't waited up for me in months!"

"It's four in the morning and I'm sitting here, counting the ways you could have been killed!" She always said her lines so perfectly.

"And tonight's top three are?"

"Drunk driver, avian flu, gang war." The audience laughed.

"You've _got _to stop watching the news." They laughed again.

"I was crazy with worry!"

"I believe the crazy part!" Aaron paused for dramatic effect before finishing the line: "You've gotta let go, Mom – I'm almost eighteen!" He went to walk off, using one of the on-set stairs, but was stopped by Alice's next line. The two characters – Diana and Gabe – talked back and forth a bit more before Bobby, in character as Dan, interrupted them, making Aaron run up to the third level. Once the Dan-Diana dialogue was done, Alice started off the first song:

"_They're the perfect loving family, so adoring_

_And I love them every day of every week_

_So my son's a little shit, my husband's boring,_

_And my daughter is a genius and a freak._

_We all cherish one another_

_Father mother sister brother_

_Cheek to cheek _…"

Now it was my turn.

"Natalie? It's four in the morning – is everything okay?"

"Everything's _great_! Why wouldn't it be great? It's _great_! I've just got three more chapters of calculus, a physics problem set, a history quiz and two pages on floral imagery in _Flowers for Algernon,_ which is so like, _duh_! Everything's so under control! It's just like – calm!" My first laugh of the night came when that line was done, and I turned around – behind Diana's back, Natalie took a swig of _Red Bull_.

"Honey," Alice started her next line. "You need to slow down. Take some time for yourself – I'm going to have sex with your father!" More laughter from the audience came then.

"Great, thanks – I'm _so glad _I know that!" After a few laughs from the audience here and there, I sang my first part of the first anthem:

"…_So it's times like these I make it all look easy,_

_Just to keep my 'lovely' family off my back – _

_And I pretend that life is bright, and life is breezy,_

_And tell myself that they're not seriously whack._

_Because some days I think I'm dying,_

_But I'm really only trying not to crack! – _"

"_ – For just another day!_" Aaron continued the song from the third level, the audience _woo_ing – simply because this was one of his shirtless scenes. "_For another stolen hour,_

_ When the world will feel my power_

_ And obey!_"

"_It's just another day!_" We sang together, and then he sang the next line:

"_Feeling like I'll live forever_ – " And then I sang:

" – _Feeling like this feeling never goes away_." And together:

"_It's just another day._"

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

The audience was still roaring – Alice, Bobby and Aaron just finished _You Don't Know / I Am The One_. After Gabe sang to Diana – or was it really more to Dan? – his last line of the song:

"_…You just don't know who I am!_"

The lights went out on them, on the first level, and they were up on Adam and I, on the second level.

"When it gets like this, it's like she's useless," Natalie says to Henry about Diana. "She can't leave the house, she can't use the phone…"

"But I'd bet she's got great pills!" Natalie shoots him a look and he recovers with: "Not that I'm into that. All the kids these days are raiding they're parent's medicine cabinets – but I'm the patron of the lost art! Yeah, it's called making a pipe out of an apple!" Laughter from the audience as Henry takes out just that prop. "You want a hit?"

"Are you sure it'll help?" She asks him.

"Yeah, Nat…" she hesitates as he says this, so he asks: "What's wrong?"

"_Superboy and the invisible girl_

_ Son of steal and daughter of air. _

_ He's a hero, a lover, a prince – _

_ She's not there._

_ Superboy and the invisible girl_

_ Everything a kid oughtta be._

_ He's immortal, forever alive – _

_ Then there's me._

_ I wish I could fly,_

_ And magically appear and disappear._

_ I wish I could fly – _

_ I'd fly far away from here_…"

I honestly cannot tell you how I got from there to the end of the song crying like I was. The stage lights went out, and all I could hear was the thunderous applause of the audience ringing in my ears.

_She's not there_

_I am here_

**Review?**


	14. Running Lines

**So I was just minding my own business, watching a **_**Big Time Rush **_**episode when…drum roll please…Curt Hansen comes on my TV! Who is Curt Hansen? Only the actor who played Gabe in the first National Tour of N2N! :D So, lyrics are at the bottom, remember to review…yeah. :) Thanks and enjoy.**

Diana "_Okay it's someone's birthday!_" (She puts the birthday cake on the table – Dan and Natalie exchange a downtrodden glance. Gabe smiles at her.)

Henry: "_Whose birthday is it?_"

(A beat of total silence.)

Natalie: "_My brother's_."

Henry: "_I didn't know you had a brother._"

Natalie: "_I don't. _(Another beat.)_ He died before I was born._"

Diana (not understanding): "_What? What is it?_"

_Chapter Thirteen_

_Rachel's POV_

"My name is Samantha Brown, and this is my autobiography. It begins when everything in front of me is blank. In that one bright second when – I know what I want. But I still haven't turned the key. I have to savor this…I have to remember what it feels like to want something so badly that I'll risk regretting. Can you do that? Can you…can you do something as simple as not know where you're going? What does it feel like?

_The sea is sinking underneath your weight, _

_The sky is pale with _– "

"Meghann Fahy, would you please _shut the hell up_!" Meghann looked at me with a skeptical look, as if she were calling me a hypocrite, and threw her _Sam Brown _script down on the nightstand. You could find us in my room, still wide-awake even though it was two-in-the-morning.

"Okay, yeah, you say that when you haven't even _started _learning your new Natalie lines! Have you even _opened _your new Broadway script yet?"

"Of course I have!" Not a lie – I _did _open it! "I've just been…busy." Meg gave me a fake-shocked looked.

"_You_ too busy for N2N?" She started laughing. "That's _hilarious_, Rach-y!"

"But it's too weird, Meg…I've been…" I didn't know what to say. "I've been…_normal_!"

If Meghann had been drinking something, she would have done a spit-take.

"_Normal_?" She questioned. "_Normal_'s for brain-dead's! _You_, Rachel Barbra Berry, are _not _normal! You're a freakin' Broadway star! You're…_next to normal_!" She smiled at the pun she made.

"Ha-ha-ha," I deadpanned. "_Funny_."

"You'll thank me for this later," she said as she grabbed my script and set it in her lap, sitting with her legs crossed. "Now – I'll say everyone else's lines and you just say yours."

"You're not even gonna tell me which scene it is?"

"Nope. Ready?"

I shook my head and sighed. "Ready."

"Okay, I'll start you off easy," then she started, making her voice mimic Bobby's for comical effect: "We don't see much of you these days – is this Henry a good influence?"

"Like, compared to _what_?" I recited.

"Okay, that's fair," she read Bobby's line that usually makes the audience laugh the most.

"Why didn't you take me with you?"

"Your mother is in for a new treatment," she read. "ECT."

"Okay – LMNOP! What is that? I don't know!"

"Electro-compulsive therapy. Shock therapy."

"You're kidding right?" There was a pause, like there should be between the parts of the line. "Dad! How could you do this? That's bullshit! That's bullshit – she trusts you!"

"Natalie – " Meghann's eyes wandered the page, reading more. "Okay, then Alice sings more of _Didn't I See This Movie _and Aaron does his creepy pole-dance…" there's this one time that Aaron swings on one of the fire poles where it _does _sort of look like a pole-dance. "Then what?"

"Go away!" I recited. "Just leave me alone!"

"Good, then what do you do?" She asked.

"Look for more drugs!"

"Yeah!" We high-fived. "Okay, how 'bout a different scene – act two?"

"Anything's fine," I said, as she flipped through more pages. Finally, she picked out something to use, and said:

"Okay, respond to the appropriate _Hey_'s." Then she spoke Adam's lines in the conversation duet, picking out a random part in _Hey 3_: "…Hey, you came!"

"Well, I said that I might."

"I thought we were through – me and you."

"Not tonight." We both laughed for a while, and then she spoke the next lyric:

"Will your mom be okay?"

"Well, she might be someday."

"But for now it's all fine?"

"She's still on my mind!"

"Can you leave it behind and stay? Let's see this thing through – "

" – Am I crazy?" I interrupted her like I'm supposed to sing over Adam. "I might end up crazy!"

"I'll be here for you!"

"You say that right here – but then give it a year, or ten years, or a life! I could end up your wife – sitting staring at walls, throwing shit down the stairs, freaking out at the store, running nude down the street, bleeding out in the bath – " I stopped myself right when Adam would have said '_shhh_!'

"Perfect!" Meghann said, and we laughed at the play on words. "Wanna do another?" I flopped over on my bed.

"Wanna come with me to glee practice tomorrow?" She wrinkled her nose and asked:

"_Why_?"

"I'll be…fun!"

"…I guess…"

"Please? And you and Andy can scope out the auditorium!"

"Fine," she agreed. "Now look, it's three am! Go to bed, child!"

"_Child_?" I demanded with fake-anger and snorted. "Would you grab my computer for me? I want to see if Kyle Dean's on _Skype_."

"You know he's with Bryan tonight!" She said, unplugging my _MacBook Pro_ and giving it to me. I pulled up _Skype_.

"I know – I want to see how it went. Now c'mere!" We huddled around the laptop, and within seconds we saw our boy.

"KD!" Meg shouted. "My brother! Look at this – are you seeing this? I'm in _Lima_, can you believe it?"

"Aw, good for you Meggy!" he laughed. "But now what do you expect us to do? We're down both Natalie's!"

"How will you ever _survive_?" I shrieked.

"Well _I_ have no idea! I'm just the understudy to the dead boy, remember?" The three of us laughed.

"So…how's _Bryan_?" I asked, raising on my eyebrows.

"Tired. He's been working so hard with _Priscilla _and everything. He's asleep." When me and Meg made extra-sad puppy-dog-faces he said: "Hey, it's okay…he's cute when he sleeps anyway…" Then I yawned, which made Kyle yawn, too.

"Maybe we all need some sleep," Meghann said, yawning too. We exchanged 'goodnight's, shut down the computer, and went to sleep.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

_Finn's POV_

"Okay, it's official – if Mr. Schue is late for one more glee practice, we're hiring Miss Holiday!" Santana said, walking in with Brittany.

"Agreed," said Artie, coming in from the other door with Puck, Sam and I. "I mean, the man's on time when we have a Spanish test – he can't be on time when we _want _him to be?" Everyone laughed at that.

"Guys maybe…I don't know, let's give him the benefit of the doubt…maybe he's in a meeting that ran late or something…" I put in.

"In the m-middle of the s-s-summer?" Tina shot that down pretty quickly.

"…Well…maybe…he's – "

"He's right here!" Mr. Schuster said, walking into the choir room. "And for today, we're going on a field trip!"

"Where to, Mr. Schue?" Quinn asked, ignoring the rhyme.

"Down a few halls and around a few corners!" No laughed, so he added: "To the auditorium!"

"What's in the auditorium?" Puck asked.

"You'll see when we get there!"

**Next chapter will be good; I know this one was kind of shorter. Review?**


	15. Freedom

**Sorry this took forever – lots of untapped **_**Wonderland **_**inspiration I had to deal with. :) School starts tomorrow! First day of high school… Remember to review! Please please please! Thanks and enjoy.**

Natalie: "_I've wasted, like, _weeks_ of perfectly good practice time with you in here – _improvising_!_"

Henry: "_Oh yeah? Oscar Peterson was a ground-breaking jazz pianist _and _classically trained!_"

Natalie: "_Beethoven did cocaine!_"

Henry: "_Miles Leevis went to Julliard!_"

Natalie: "_Mozart wrote poems about farts!_"

_Chapter Fourteen_

_Rachel's POV_

"Oh my God, Rachel, this is perfect!" Meghann squeaked, once we found our way into the auditorium. "When does your glee club start?"

"Not for a while yet," I said. "Why?" She headed me a piece of sheet music. On the top where the title would be, it said: _Freedom_. We sat down on the edge of the stage, and I almost started the song of, taking the part of Kelly and leaving the Meg the part of Sam, put she stopped me.

"No," she said. "I want to see how _you'd _play Sam with this song." That didn't make much sense…this was _her _part, not mine! But it'd be stupid of me to argue with her giving me the lead of the song, so I said:

"Okay," and she started singing.

"_Let's go!_

_The highway's calling_ –

_The sun is shining_ –

_Let's get in the car and just remember_ –

_Let's go!_" Then I sang Sam's first part:

"_Kelly drove on all of our road trips – _

_She believed in listening to the highway. _

_You start driving, _

_And keep driving – _

_There's no stopping 'til Kelly says you've arrived_."

"You're not doing it right," Meg said, and I wasn't sure what she meant. She must've known, because she pointed down at the sheet music. _Oh_. There was dialogue, too.

"Doing what?" I read.

"You're not _in it_!" She said, barley having to look at the page, even though she was playing a different part. She elbowed me and read the next line. "You're not in the moment, Sam! Talk about what it felt like."

"What _did _it feel like?"

"You remember – " She broke off and started singing: "_Feeling the wind whipping your hair _– " Then speaking: "You're not even trying!"

"I _am_!" I protested, reading the words off the page.

"Try _harder_!" Then she sung again for a while:

"_Picking a road_

_And going anywhere!_

_We're heading south – _

_Or maybe west – _

_We don't know much,_

_We're making up the rest!_

_Tear up the atlas – _

_Don't read those road signs._

_Driving for the sake_

_Of driving_

_Anywhere – _

_That's freedom!_"

"Freedom…" I read half-heartedly.

"What is wrong with you today?" She read Kelly's next line.

"Nothing's wrong with me!" I said. Meg sighed heavily.

"Samantha Brown," she said. "You're not _living_! Do you see that fork in the road?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, one way leads towards my place, the other goes somewhere else. Which way should we go?"

"I…I don't know!"

"If you don't pick one we're gonna hit that house! Left or right?"

"Hold on!" I yelled over her. "I'm looking for a map – "

" – Maps are for _brain-dead's_!" She then yelled over me. "_Left _or _right_?"

"Um…_left_!" When I said that line, Meghann mimicked turning a steering wheel.

"Very slow, Sam…" she said.

"So where are we going?"

"I have no idea."

"_Freedom!_" Meghann sang.

"_Freedom!_" I echoed, enthusiastically this time.

"_Freedom!_" We sang together. "_Freedom! Freedom!_" And still together, we sang:

"_We won't look back – _

_We never will,_

_If we come too far – _

_We'll drive 'til we hit _

_Nashville! _

_Freedom!_

_Freedom!_

_Freedom!_" Then alone, I sang:

"_And I'm almost starting to feel it – _

_ How she took that day and made it special._

_ The long highways – _

_ The cheap rest stops –_

_ The last minute 'get it the car and let's go'!_" Then Meghann took over, singing:

"_Oh, let's go! _

_Let's go. _

_Pick a road – _

_Pick a highway – _

_Any road is going my way! _

_Let's go! _

_Live it up –_

_With no complicated philosophies! _

_No college, no career, _

_No kids, no fancy house, _

_No! _

_Let's go – _

_Any road but the one we're on!_

_No college, no career, _

_No screaming kids, no mortgage! _

_Driving anywhere –_

_Just driving straight into the dawn – _

_That's freedom._" And then I sang:

"_Kelly driving, me riding shotgun – _

_ We're just a couple girls out on the highway._

_ With no road map,_

_ And no curfew,_

_ Just two girls with nowhere we have to be._

_ And now she's laughing,_

_ And I start laughing – _

_ It's all so real, so like a memory – _

_ And the sun is so bright that we're squinting – _

_ Oh, I think it looks like I've found _

_ Freedom!_" And together:

"_Freedom! Freedom!_

_ Freedom!_"

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

_Finn's POV_

Before we all entered the auditorium, Mr. Schue peeped open one of the double-doors and made a '_shhh_' sign with one finger to his mouth. We all walked in as quietly as we could, but none of us were really sure of the reason for the change in volume…_oh, that's why. _Upon entering we saw Rachel, and another girl, who I knew from _Facebook _as 'Meghann Fahy'. Whoa, it was kind of weird to see a girl I only knew from pictures in the living flesh, right there in front of me. They sang the last note of a song together, both of them belting out the word '_freedom_' at the tops of their lungs. They were laughing together, and Meghann and Rachel only turned around when they heard the double-doors close shut.

"Oh," said Rachel, spinning around to us coming in. "I-I'm sorry, I – "

" – No, Rachel, don't apologize," I said quickly, and then looked at Mr. Schue. Maybe I should have let him take the lead…he _is _the teacher after all.

"New Directions," Mr. Schue said, after we all filled the front and second rows of the house. "Meet our new co-director!" He motioned to Meghann.

"Holy crap…" Kurt mumbled under his breath.

"Who's she?" Puck asked, seeing Kurt's reaction. He shot him daggers with his eyes.

"This is – " Rachel started to say, but then stopped herself, looking at Meg.

"I'm Meghann Fahy," she introduced herself. "I was understudy to Rachel's Natalie during _Next To Normal_'s Off-Broadway run, and I'll be her standby during the Broadway run."

"What's the difference between an understudy and a standby?" Sam asked.

"An understudy just means that you cover for the cast member when they're sick or can't preform," Rachel explained. "A standby means that if or when that cast member decides to leave the production, the standby will step up and fulfill the part completely."

"Then…why are you…_here_?" Artie asked Meghann, 'here' meaning Lima.

"You see, musicals don't just magically appear on Broadway," Meghann said. "First, there are workshops – meaning that actors and actresses will come in a sit around a big table and read different parts. If the company is very, very lucky, the musical will make theater. 'Make theater' means that the company gets to actually preform it somewhere. Usually, a show starts off at a Regional theater, like every state has. Touring shows usually make their rounds to Regional theaters, too. Then, if the company is even _more _lucky, the show goes National. That means they go on tour, like a touring concert, sort of…"

"And _then _Broadway?" Mike asked.

"Not yet," she continued. "Then there's something called _Off_-Broadway. These shows usually take place in legitimate New York theaters, but they're still going through changes. If it gets enough press, views, audience fare, box office sales and all that confusing stuff, the show will be picked up for Broadway."

"Like _Next To Normal _was," Rachel added. "That's why I have the summer off. We're moving and growing and changing, but not preforming. At least, not right now."

"Right now," Meghann continued. "Since the break from N2N, I've had some free time to work on a musical that's trying very hard to make theater. It's called _The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown_, and, well, we haven't had that much luck on our side. But your principle and your awesome teacher here, Mr. Schuster, has been nice enough to lend your auditorium to the cast and crew for the time being. And…I owed him big time for that."

"Yeah, yeah, that's all just _great_," said Santana. "But just because you have a bunch of _musical _experience doesn't mean you can help with a _glee club_!"

"Um, Santana…" Rachel bit her lip. "You probably shouldn't – "

" – What's your name?" Meghann asked Santana, talking over Rachel.

"Santana," she scoffed. "Santana Lopez."

"Well, just FYI _Santana Lopez_," The older girl said. "You must not know the physical and mental skill level it takes a performer to make it to the Broadway level. I mean, just look at _Rachel_!" Everyone did, and Rachel obviously didn't know what to do with herself. "This girl's only sixteen and she's one of the most skilled performers I've ever worked with. You don't know how lucky you are to have her in your glee club!"

There was a moment of total silence, followed by a _beep! beep! beep!_

"Aw man, you gotta get to the field!" Puck yelled out. "Football tryouts!"

"And that means _Cheerios_ tryouts, girls!" Quinn clapped her hands together. Then everyone started to disperse, but I stayed there for a minute, still in total silence.

"You comin', Finn?" Puck asked me.

"Yeah," I said. "I'll meet you on the field."

"Don't be late," he said. "Beiste is naming quarterback."

"I'll be right there," I said, still paralyzed by love.

**Not that this is almost over, but when it ends I'm thinking of doing a sequel. Where Rachel is on Broadway and trying to stay close with Finn and the New Directions and dealing with being a Broadway teen. I already have an idea of a chapter set at the Tony's! Anyway, what do you guys think? Because I'll only do it if you want me to. Wish me luck at my first day of high school tomorrow! REVIEWS = LOVE. :)**


	16. Weird Again

**So four days of high school are down…I'm feeling pretty good about it so far! It's **_**way **_**bigger then my old school, but I'm finding my way around, and I really like my teachers! I just have to figure out how to unlock my locker next… :) So anyway, I may not be able to update as much to anything because of school, but I'll try! Here's the next chapter! :) Thanks and enjoy.**

Natalie: "…_You just don't give up._"

Henry: "_So don't give up on me!_"

Natalie: "_Goodbye, Henry._"

_Chapter Fifteen_

_Finn's POV_

It was muggy, and hot, and bright out, but regardless of how brutal the weather would make our first tryouts would be, we ran onto the field. The soccer kids next-door in the soccer field were already warming up, kicking those black and white balls around. They did their drills, kicking back and forth, scoring the occasional goals together, and cheering. Over by the picnic tables, the cross-country team was gathering for their first tryouts of the season, too. Some kids sat down on the tables, some stayed standing, sipping their water bottles, and some, aka the cross-country stars, ran in place, ready to start the first never-ending trek through the paths through the woods of the fall sport season. The field hockey girls in their field hockey shirts ran around on the next field over with their brown, wooden-looking sticks, chasing after one of those tiny orange balls, yelling mumbled words at each other.

And finally, there were the _Cheerios_. There they were in all their girly, short-skirted, high-ponytailed glory. It all used to seem like slow motion to me, the way they'd skip across the field in their tight, red and white uniforms – basically doing it just to make the football players _crazy_. It was just unfair, the advantage they always had on us. And there they are, right on cue – running out onto the field, Quinn in the lead, followed by Santana, Brittany, and Becky with all the other girls trailing behind. Like I said, it used to be like slow motion. Next to me, Puck stopped cold in his tracks, his mouth making an open '_o_'.

"Dude…" started to say, but then I realized something quickly – that used to me, too. But you know what? They don't even faze me anymore.

"You know what?" Puck muttered. "I think we should be the Torsions, not the Titans."

"Yeah…good luck with that man," I said, continuing to run laps. After a few moments to collect his thoughts, Puck followed after me.

"Hey Finn!" called Briana, one of the captains of the cross-country team, as she was finishing the trail that leads through the football field. We run into the runners all the time. "When's the first game?"

"Not 'til the first Friday of the school year. You know, once school starts back up again and everything…" I said, kind of out of breath. Bri, who had just ran at least a 5k, however, seemed perfectly posh.

"I can't believe fall sports are starting _already_!" She exclaimed, some of her hair, wrapped in a curly, brown ponytail, falling out of place. "Next thing you know it'll be the first day!"

Translation: _Next thing you know Rachel will be leaving! And you'll never even have a chance with her! Ever!_

"I know."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx **

_Rachel's POV_

Those of us who weren't involved in a fall sport walked in the parking lot, getting into our cars, ready to drive back home. Meghann stayed behind, saying Andrew would come meet her – apparently they had '_a lot _of work' to do on one of their duets, _Run Away With Me_.

"…And don't forget about Quinn's sleepover tonight…" Kurt was saying to Mercedes as they parted ways. Didn't I promise to go to that?

"Rachel, are you coming later?" Kurt turned his head and asked. He must've thought I was eavesdropping. Shit. "You know, to Quinn's sleepover? You said you were attending on _Facebook_. You should come!"

"I…um…"

"Really! C'mon, please? You already said – "

" – It's just…" I started to say. "I feel like Quinn doesn't really like me that much."

"What?" Kurt responded. "Nah, that's just _Quinn_. Plus, ever since last year, she's thought she has tabs on Finn, even though she's happy with Puck. It's a territorial thing, I think."

"Finn?" I asked. "What does _Finn _have to do with anything?"

"Oh, _come on, _Rachel!" Kurt rolled his eyes sarcastically. "You _both _just need to get it together already!"

"Get…get _what _together?"

"Oh please! This is _no time _to play cat and mouse, and you both know it! You're running out of time here!"

You want to know something? Kurt couldn't have been more right…

"I'll see you tonight," I said. "Quinn lives on…?"

"Dudley Road," Kurt confirmed. "Big white house – you can't miss it. See you there."

A few hours later, I found out Kurt was right about the 'can't miss it' part of our conversation, anyway, regardless about the rest of it. Quinn's house – or, possibly, _mansion _– was huge and gaudy and everything you'd expect it to be. Even the doorbell sounded prestigious. The door opened with a _screeeeeech_, Quinn standing in the doorway, holding a small, _yapp_ing Yorkie with a pink bow on her head.

"Hi Quinn," I said. "What a cute dog! What's her name?"

"Mia," Quinn answered with a smile, steeping aside for me to come in. I did so, and was quickly hit with a wave of what I assumed was Quinn's mother's expensive perfume, which clearly permeated through the house. "Everyone's downstairs," Quinn continued, motioning with her free hand to the door to the basement.

"Great," I said. "And thanks again for the invite."

Once I got downstairs to Quinn's finished basement, I saw that she was right – everyone _was _there – all the glee girls, plus Blaine and Kurt and three girls that I didn't recognize.

"Hey!" Blaine said, standing up to come over to me. "You made it!"

"Um, yeah," I said. "Wouldn't miss it…"

"Rachel, this is Cathleen, Molly, and Audrey," said Blaine, motioning to the three previously unknown girls. The first, Cathleen, was a pretty dirty blonde, the second, Molly, had dark hair and eyes, and Audrey, the last of the three, was just the opposite with blonde hair and blue eyes. They all looked really, really excited for some reason.

"The girls go to Crawford Country Day, Dalton's sister school," Blaine continued. "They're in the drama department and…well, they _really _wanted to meet you. Quinn said it'd be fine if they dropped by so…yeah."

"Uh…hi," I said, giving the girls a little wave. One of them squeaked, and all three shot up.

"Hi – Oh my God _hi_!" Cathleen squeaked. "Can I hug you?"

"Um…sure…" All three of them hugged me.

"Oh my God…it's just…" Molly stuttered. "You're _Natalie_!"

"You are _so inspiring_!" Audrey all but screamed. "I've seen you in _Next To Normal _ten times!"

"I've seen you _twelve _times!" Cathleen interjected.

"I've seen you _fifteen_!" Molly added, and then turned to the other two girls. "So _there_!"

"How do prepare for a role like that?" Audrey asked. "I mean…_how _do you play Natalie? _How_ do you play a role like that?"

"I _don't _play Natalie," I answered. "I _am _Natalie. I _play _myself."

"Can I have your autograph?" Cathleen asked. "_Please_?"

"Uh…sure," I said. "Do you have paper?"

Indeed they did, and whipped it out in about two seconds flat. This was weird. This was _weird_. I thought I was used to Lima by now. I thought _Lima _was used to _me _by now. When would the actual _sleepover _start? _This _was just…_weird_. I felt _weird _again…

I was _Natalie _again.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

_Finn's POV_

"Dude," said Puck. "Just call her. Or text her. Or _Facebook _chat her. Or _something_! Just do it! Come _on_!"

"I don't know…" I muttered. "I mean, do I even have chance with her? She's a New Yorker and I'm…I'm just a _Lima loser _who's gonna stay here forever – "

" – _Dude_!" Puck countered. "That's the point! She's from _New York_! The city of _love_!"

"I thought that was Paris…" Sam muttered.

"Either way," Puck continued. "This is your _chance_, man! Do you know how often guys like you and me get a _chance_? Once in a lifetime! And if you don't go for it…then you _are _a Lima loser!"

He was right.

**So, I'd really appreciate if you review on wether or not you want a sequel! I only got one nod to that so far! So yeah, that'd be nice. So would reviews in general :) **


	17. Henry To My Natalie

**Okay, confirmation on some **_**great **_**news, here! Yes, there **_**will **_**be a sequel to this! :D Now I just need a title! Any suggestions? Remember to review. Thanks and enjoy.**

Natalie: "_I don't have time for this right now, Henry. You're, like, number three on my list of issues._"

Henry: "_You keep a list_?"

Gabe: "_She keeps a list_."

Natalie: "_Oh, but don't worry – you're my _favorite _problem!_"

Henry: "_Well as long as I'm your _favorite."

_Chapter Sixteen_

_Rachel's POV_

It seemed like _hours _until those Crawford Country Day girls finally left. Finally, they were gone – the tension was gone, and the dust was cleared. I could breath again. I could function again. I could be a semi-normal, Lima teenager again…but it wasn't exactly _easy _to make the transition from semi-normal Rachel to in-the-spotlight, _Natalie _Rachel, and back again.

But moving on…

You could find us in Quinn's finished basement, sprawled out all over – Santana was sitting on Brittany's lap on the couch, Tina and Mercedes were studying an issue of _Vogue _surrounded by blankets on the plush, rug-cover floor. Kurt and Blaine were giggling about 'Warbler Horror Stories' – Blaine promised to tell some later – and now, Lauren and Quinn walked down the stairs, holding bowls of popcorn, armfuls of movies, and handfuls of nail polish.

"Whatcha got, Quinn?" Mercedes asked, gesturing towards the DVDs. Quinn and Lauren, once they were on the floor and not the stairs, laid them all out on the carpet.

"_Valentine's Day_, _50 First Dates_, _Mean Girls_, _Little Women_,_ Legally Blonde_…" she rambled on movie titles, while all I could think of was how _Legally Blonde _was _so much better _as a musical. No offence to Reese Witherspoon. Oh, and Sutton Foster _is _Jo Marge as far as _Little Women _is concerned…

A few minutes latter, after a quick vote to decide on a movie, Lindsay Lohan was on screen. She was still a redhead, and Rachel McAdams was a blonde, which was a little ironic. On screen as the movie progressed, that actress who's name I can't remember at the moment was telling Lindsay Lohan: "_how do I even begin to explain Regina George_?". Yeah, I wish we picked _Legally Blonde_.

"Who's up for truth or dare?" Someone whispered, and in another second, we were sitting in a circle, our backs to dear Lindsay.

"Okay Q, you start," said Santana. "Truth or dare?"

"Um…dare!" The blonde declared.

"Hmmm…" Santana mused. "Who's got a good one?"

"Prank call the pizza guy!" Tina yelled in.

"Yeah…and when he gets here, turn on the sprinklers!" Mercedes added, laughing.

"Or better yet," I said. "Just prank call Coach Sylvester. Tell her she won one of those radio contests or something."

"That's _perfect_!" Santana exclaimed. "Quinny…" she grabbed Quinn's phone off the coffee table. "Make it so!" Quinn dialed _*67 _and then Sue Sylvester's number. In another minute of pure anticipation, on the other end we heard a sleepy, annoyed:

"Hello?"

"Yes, um…" we held in our laughter as Quinn did a fake British accent as best she could. "This is Shirley Darling, of British radio station 57.8, and you've been selected to play our trivia-prize-game of the day!" Blaine giggled like a schoolgirl. Mercedes and I had to shove our faces into pillows to conceal all the laughter.

"What's the prize?" Sue asked groggily.

"Um…" then Santana took the phone, and in _her _best accent added:

"An all-expenses-paid vacation to Bora-Bora!"

"Yup – that's right!" Quinn took the phone again. "Round trip plan tickets for seven days and six nights in beautiful Bora-Bora! And all you have to do is answer our trivia questions of the day!"

"Is this some kind of _scam_?" Sue demanded.

"_Goodness _no!" Quinn said even _more _British-ly. "Ready for the first question?"

"Mm-hmm…" the coach sleepily murmured.

"Okay…" Quinn started, thinking for something that would hit the coach just close enough to home, without being total obvious. A look of 'I got it!' appeared on her face, and she said: "Name this artist!" The blonde started singing Madonna's _Vogue_, and Sue snorted.

"Obviously," she scoffed. "The material girl. _Madonna_."

"That is correct!" Now Brittany had the phone, taking the hint – somehow…it _is _Brittany after all… – to speak in the same accent. "Now for a history question! What is the square root of four?"

Quinn and Santana's hands met their faces.

"Two…"

"I'm sorry," said Brittany. "But that is incorrect. The square root of four is rainbows."

"Wha – ?"

" – Thanks for playing! Bye!" Quinn yelled quickly, grabbing the phone in one second, then pressing the '_end_' button and throwing her phone down as if it were poisoned the next.

"Oh my _God_…" Kurt was laughing so hard his face was bright red, and all of the rest of us pretty much looked the same. After we finally all caught our breath, Brittany turned to Santana.

"San," she said. "Do you wanna go to the Fall Fling together?"

"What's the Fall Fling?" I whispered in Kurt's ear.

"It's this dance McKinley has at the start of the school year every year. Mostly it's for the freshman's sake, but it's sort of fun for us too."

"Oh," I deadpanned.

"What?" Kurt asked, looking at me with squinted eyes.

"I won't be here."

"Oh."

Santana was giggling and said to Brittany: "Duh."

They started kissing, and Blaine threw a pillow at their heads, which led to a pillow fight.

One thing was for sure – there would be no _sleep _at this sleepover.

_Beap! Beap! Beap!_

"Okay, who just got texted?" Tina asked.

"Me," I said, looking at my phone. _Oh_… I smiled. It said: _New Text from: Finn_. I hit '_read_'.

_Hey, Rachel, I don't kno if u hav my number or not but it's Finn. Do u think u mayb want 2 go bowling sometime? Tomorrow night?_

"Who is it?" asked Quinn.

"No one," I said. "Just Meghann."

_Hey Finn, _I responded. _Yes, I do hav uur number. And tomorrow sounds great. Can't wait. :)_

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"So…" I said to Meghann that next morning, throwing my duffel bag onto my bed. "I got asked out last night."

She squealed really, really loudly.

"_What_?" She asked giddily. "When? How? By who?"

"Last night. By text message. Finn Hudson." I answered all her questions in order.

"Finn Hudson as in 'glee club Finn Hudson'?" I nodded in answer. "_Awwww_! And he's _cute_, too!" She gasped. "Wait – wait – wait! I have to _Skype _Adam and Aaron about this!"

"Oh _God_…" but she already had the page pulled up, and in about a second, they were on screen.

"Boys," she said. "Prepare yourselves. Our baby girl…has…a _date_!"

Aaron fell over in his chair. Adam's mouth was an '_O_'.

"Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for, you guys…" I muttered, but it was no use.

"I'll kill him!" Aaron yelled, staggering back to his feet. "Where does he live? I will _kill him_!" All Adam could do was stutter, like he was in shock or something.

"_What_?" He finally got out, in a dazed sort of way. "When did this happen? Who _is_ this kid – _I'm _gonna kill him!"

"Way to be supportive…"

"His name is Finn Hudson," Meg declared happily. "And he's in glee club and he plays the drums and he's quarterback of the football team!"

"I hate him," said Aaron.

"He's a dead man," said Adam.

"Love you too, guys…" I shook my head, and laughed.

Secretly, all I could think about was that Finn Hudson could be the Henry to my Natalie.

**Next chapter = Finchel date! :) Also…I need those title suggestions! Please and thank you! Oh yeah…and…review!**


	18. Carrie

**I know – I know – I promised you a Finchel date this chapter. But that'll be **_**next **_**chapter, okay? You see, after this, it's going to be **_**all Finchel all the time**_**, so I wanted one last hurrah of Kurt/Rachel friendship? Okay? Okay. Please don't hate me! :) **

**All honors classes besides math = **_**so much **_**homework! :( Sorry I haven't been able to update as much as I used too – I really wish I could! Also, this chapter is based off of the recording Jennifer Damiano did with Molly Ranson and Matt Doyle for **_**Carrie: The Musical**_**. :) Remember to review. Thanks and enjoy.**

Natalie _(hopeful)_: "_So – I got the date for my piano recital. Do you think you guys can come?_"

Diana: "_We'll put it on the calendar_."

Natalie: "_Um, Mom, the calendar is still on April – of last year_."

Diana _(happily)_: "_Oh – then happy Easter!_"

Natalie _('I give up')_: "_Happy Easter, Mom_."

_Chapter Seventeen_

_Rachel's POV_

'…_and Carrie dies in Sue's arms_.'

Jeez.

I shut the Stephen King novel with a _thump_. The Lima public library only had the hardcover version of the book, which apparently was released in 1974. At least, that's what it says on the back. The novel in question, _Carrie _by Stephen King, was at least 250 pages, but maybe double that in thickness.

The only reason I was even _reading _a horror-gothic novel was because this morning, Molly Ranson, Meg's Off-Broadway friend, said she had a 'proposition' for me over the phone.

"Okay…?" I half stated, half asked. "What do you mean _proposition_?"

You see, I've never really known Molly all that well. She was like…like one of those girls who's faces you'd see in the hallway at school, but never really knew anything about them. Not that _I_ would know, anyway. Molly's in her early twenties, like Meghann, and in pretty much the same stage of her career, too – she's in the Off-Broadway, workshopping, and understudying stage. Both of them have always been the 'I'm-just-so-naturally-beautiful-but-I-really-don't-care' type. I wish _I _could be beautiful enough not to care.

"Rachel, have you ever done a recording before?"

A 'recording' can mean one of two things. First, it can be a shortened way of saying 'cast recording', which is basically the Broadway way of saying 'soundtrack', but in this context, she means 'stage-recording'. It's basically a workshop that's spoken into a microphone, but it's not just for people who are considered for the role, it's pretty much open to anyone who's got time on their hands between shows or something.

"No…"

"Then I think it's time you add it to your resume. Ever heard of _Carrie: The Musical_?"

"Wasn't that in, like, the 80s?"

"Yup," Molly answered, popping the '_p_'.

"And didn't it _totally _epic fail?"

"Uh-huh."

"Revival time?" I asked her.

"Revival time!"

I'm a sucker for helping out with revivals. You see, a revival isn't like trying to get an original show to Broadway, like Meg explained to Santana the other day. Think of it this way – an original production and a revival are both at Disney World. The original has to wait in all the lines – the revival, on the other hand, has fast-passes to every single ride. It's like that, except put _theaters_ in the place of rides. Revivals have already happened, so it's basically just like a 'been-there-done-that' for theaters – they don't have to be good enough, because they were _already _good enough! The thing with revivals is – if you're in one, it's like you're saying 'yup, I know this part has already been played by better Broadway legends before me, but I'm gonna get up here and sing for you anyway! You just watch me!'

One word: _props_!

"Awesome!" I exclaimed. "But there's a few problems here, Molly. One, I'm still in Ohio, and two, I have no idea what the musical's about."

"Don't worry about that," she said. "It's a recording, not a workshop. We're mostly doing it on _Skype _anyway, and as for the musical itself goes, it was a book first. Read it and you'll be all caught up! It'll only take a day or two to record, and we'll be on our merry way to Off-Broadway once it gets approved. We just need you and some other fill-ins for now until the whole casting thing is straightened out. I'll send you an email with the song list and casting, okay?"

"That's really convenient…" I said.

"Yeah, well," she started. "You know how crazy Sutton's schedule is with _Anything Goes _now and – "

" – Wait," I interrupted her. "_Sutton Foster _signed on? You're not joking, right?"

"I wouldn't joke about something like _that_," Molly said, knowing too how impressive even her _name _is. "Sutton. _Freakin'_. Foster."

"As in…two time Tony winner, Sutton Foster?" I asked, even though I know that this is the only possibility.

"As in Jo Marge, Millie Dillmount, Princess Fiona, Reno Sweeney _Sutton Foster_!" Molly all but yelled at the top of her lungs.

_Wow_. Wow wow wow wow wow wow. _Wow_! I dropped the phone on the ground altogether and started jumping up and down on my bed – then, I started singing random things at the top of my lungs like a giddy little schoolgirl. I've never actually _worked _alongside a Tony winner before! I mean, I know it's just a recording for a couple of days and all, but _still_! I'm going to be in the presence – well, _virtual_ presence – of _Sutton Freakin' Foster_! Oh my _God_! Oh my God oh my God oh my God oh my –

_Wait_…

I bounced over to my _Mac _and checked my email just to see what Molly's email would be all about…and I think I've stopped breathing all together.

_I'm_ going to be _singing _with _Sutton Foster_…

Oh. My. Broadway. God.

And so now, here we are. Since Meg convinced Melissa Benoist, the girl who got cast as Kelly in _Samantha Brown_, to come down and rehearse with her and Andrew, they've been doing just that nearly all day, everyday. And it's been pouring rain all day, and honestly, a was a little bit curious about _Carrie _from Molly's description of it. So I started reading the book. Yeah…I'm gonna have nightmares tonight. Just then, my phone started ringing – Kurt was calling.

"Hey!" I said, answering the phone. "What's up?"

"Orientation's tomorrow and I have _nothing _to wear!" He shrieked.

"That's _tomorrow_?" I asked. "Already?"

"Yup," Kurt answered. "Then school starts in two weeks."

"Wow. That was…"

"Fast?" He put in.

"Yeah," I sighed. "_Fast_." There was some silence, and then Kurt said:

"So…wanna help me pick something out?"

"Um, _duh_! But Kurt, I need your help too…"

"With what?" He asked. "_Oh_ – _ooooh_! Big date with _Finn _tomorrow!" He said all sing-song-y.

"Yes there's _that_…" I tried really heard not to giggle, biting my lip. "But that's _tomorrow_ – you know what's _today_? _Sutton Foster_, my dearest Kurt-y-Kurt." I heard him gasp on the other end. "Yup, yup – and what if I just _sort of kind of just happen _to mention that I have a friend named Kurt who's _extremely_ _talented _and could use a Broadway role?"

He gasped again and there was silence for a while. I assumed he dropped the phone like I did with Molly. I heard a muffled '_oh my God!_' and a few screams of joy.

"Rachel…would you really do that…for _me_?"

"Of course I would!" I said. "You and me on Broadway at the same time, Kurt. This _is _going to happen – it's _not _just a dream. This is _real _now, Kurt. For you _and _for me."

"Oh Rach…" he was tearing up. "H-how can I ever repay you for something like _that_?"

"Well, I know how you can start. Ever heard of _Carrie: The Musical_?"

"Uh, yeah…I'm pretty sure it went down in history as the worst musical of the 80s." He nearly laughed. "Why?"

I paraphrased all that Molly told me over the phone. Kurt burst out laughing.

"Okay, Rach, I know a recording's easy to add to your resume, and I know it'll make it look like you _didn't _only hang in Lima all summer while your co-stars were working, but…_Carrie _closed after three performances. Why would you even bother?"

"Kurt – _Sutton_. _Freakin'_. _Foster_!"

"Your right. I'm coming over. See you in a few minutes."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

And in a few minutes he was there, just like he said. He – _of course _– took the liberty of planning out my outfit, and several minutes became several hours just like that. And then, something popped up on my computer screen – _Molly Ranson wants to Skype_, it said. _Decline or Accept? _Kurt squeaked, and I clicked _accept_.

"Hey, Rachel," Molly appeared on screen. There was a guy with her, too. He was…sort of cute. He looked…kind of like Finn, actually, except not as tall and with lighter-colored eyes. "I just wanted to thank you again for doing this for us. It won't inconvenience you with the coming-to-Broadway process, I promise."

"No problem, Molly," I said, and Kurt moved in next to me as he pulled up a chair. "This is my friend Kurt. He's going to Broadway eventually, too." I said as if it were totally a sure fact. You know what? I really do think it is.

"H-hi," he hoarsely said to Molly, and she laughed.

"You're funny!" She giggled, and then motioned to the guy next to her. "Rachel, this is Matthew Doyle. He just got cast permanently as Tommy."

"Male lead, huh?" I said to him. "Impressive stuff. Funny, I feel like I've seen you around before…" but I trailed off, and he, too, started laughing.

"We may have crossed paths before," he said. "I did some work with _Spring Awakening_ – you're familiar with it, right? Oh, and I _don't _go by _Matthew_!" He elbowed Molly as if they were best friends. "I go by Matt, actually," he said. "Matt Doyle."

Aha – _that's _why he was so familiar! Matt Doyle. In my mind he goes along with Hunter Parish, Krysta Rodriguez, Wes Taylor, Phoebe Strole, John Gallagher Jr., Gideon Glick…that Broadway teens-to-twenties group of kids that Adam and Aaron and Meghann hang out with. If I were in New York right now and not Lima, I'd probably have spent my days getting to know _them_…Broadway kids who are in similar spots to me…and not spending them getting to know Kurt, and the New Directions, and falling in love with Finn…

Wait – did I just say _love_?

Well…moving on…

The _Skype _chat was more eventful for Kurt then it was for me, actually. Nothing big really happened – Molly just asked if we'd all read the book, and I said that I'd just put it down and I was _totally _going to have nightmares for like a week. She laughed and agreed, while Matt started going on about how he's 'read scarier' and told a few horror stories. Then Molly talked about how we've got two weeks tops to get this done before the new Broadway season, so we've got _plenty _of time. Sutton's name was dropped a few times, and Kurt would try _really _hard to professional like the rest of us and not squeak, and Molly would laugh like it was the funniest thing ever, trying to be nice and cut him some slack. She said she'd email all of us a copy of the script and songs, and we talked about scheduling and rehearsals. The whole process would take three days tops, we decided. That's when Molly turned to Kurt.

"So, Kurt right?" He nodded to tell her that she got his name right. "What're your plans this season?" This caught him off guard, since he'd never been asked something like that by someone like Molly before. It took him a second, but he acted like this was no big deal and he'd been asked this all the time – I was so proud him.

"Oh, I haven't really decided yet," he said. "I should probably get on that, shouldn't I? Only got two weeks, right?" He let out a little, posh laugh.

"Well, if you don't have any plans, I could put in a word for you with my friend John," Molly said. _She means John Gallagher Jr._ I wrote on a sticky-note and slid it in Kurt's direction. He mouthed '_Oh – thank you_' at me. "Although I'm sure Rachel's already doing that!" She continued.

"Of course," I said. "Kurt's gonna be _the greatest star_!" And we all laughed at the _Funny Girl _reference. And I meant it, too.

"This was great, guys," Matt said. "But Moll, we've gotta talk to Marin about signing on. Nice to meet you, Kurt," he continued. "And…really nice to meet you, Rachel."

"You too," I said. "I'll see you around…in two weeks."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I'll totally be seeing you around – oh, and tell your friends Adam and Aaron I said hi, okay? Later."

"Bye Rach!" Molly said. "And great to meet you, Kurt!" And then my computer went dark.

There was silence for a second, and Kurt started _really _squeaking.

"Rach," he said after. "Do you really think…do you really think this'll happen for me?"

"Kurt," I said with a smile. "It's pretty much a done deal at this point. _We _are going to Broadway – _together_." He hugged me.

"Thank you," he whispered. "Thank you – thank you – thank you!"

"No problem," I whispered back.

"Now!" He said, breaking out of the hug. "_You've _got a big date tomorrow, don't you? And don't you dare think you're gonna get away with dressing like Natalie!"

"Makeover time?" I asked.

"Makeover time!"

**Next chapter **_**will be the Finchel date**_**! I swear, I swear! Also: in the sequel, should Kurt go to Broadway with Rachel? Or should he have to work at it, like in the show? And keep the title suggestion coming please! Remember – reviews are love! :) **


	19. Perfect For You Reprise

**And now…drum roll, please…the Finchel date is here! Yay! :) Sorry I made you wait for it, but it's here now! :) So, remember to review please! Last chapter was my longest so far for this story, and also received the least number of reviews. :( But either way, please please please review now! :) **

**Also, I put some links up for pictures on my profile! So far, they're links to pics of Jennifer Damiano, Meghann Fahy, Adam Chanler-Berat and Aaron Tveit. So yeah. If you have any link requests relevant to this story, tell me and I'll set up a link to the picture you want! :) Thanks and enjoy.**

Henry: "…_perfect for you, just let me be perfect for you! We're both slightly crazy, but you – you amaze me, you do! And I could be prefect – I'll make myself perfect – perfect for you. You square all the corners, I straighten the curves._"

Natalie: "_You've got some nerve, Henry, and I'm just all nerves!_"

Henry: "_But even if everything else turns to dirt _– "

Both: " – _You can be the one thing in this world that won't hurt._"

Henry: "_I can't fix what's fucked up – but one thing I know I can do, I can be perfect for you._"

Natalie: "_I can be perfect for you_."

Both: "_Perfect for you._"

_Chapter Eighteen_

_Finn's POV_

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! _

What the f– ? …_oh yeah_…Orientation is today. Great. Just _perfect_. It's 5:45 am…and now it's 5:46 am, so I figured I'd better drag myself out of bed and start the day. I grabbed my phone to shut off the alarm, and that's when it hit me…it's the twenty-first. The _twenty-first_. My date with Rachel's on the twenty-first…

Suddenly, I didn't have to _drag _myself anywhere.

"And good morning to you too, Finn," said Kurt, raising an eyebrow once I got to the kitchen and opened up a newly-purchased box of _Captain Crunch_. "_Someone_'s walking on air this morning."

"You know it, bro," I murmured under my breath.

"What do you think senior orientation's going be like?" Kurt asked.

"I don't know, the teacher's will go on and on about their classes being _the most _important, and the SATs, and college, and God knows what else," I said. "I just can't wait 'til it's over."

And it was true. That entire day – from 5:47 am, to 2:30 pm when orientation got out – all I could think of was one thing. As I slumped through the hallways, shuffling from class to class, all I could think of was one thing. Rachel should be here with me. She should be standing right here, right next to me, walking with me. She should be at the locker next to mine, she should be talking with me about what teachers we got or didn't get. Talking about what classes we're both in, and what we think about –

_Brrrriiiiing!_

With the bell, I shot up from my desk in D period physics, and practically _bolted _to E period. What's my E period? Glee club. Best part of the day with a bullet.

"Hey Mr. Schue," I said, walking in. "Hey Meghann." Mr. Schue was organizing sheet music that I assumed he'd soon be handing out to us once we all got here, and Meghann was sitting next to Brad at the piano, playing some pretty music that sounded sort of like something Mozart-y, but with a twist.

"And everything else goes away," she whispered under her breath as she finished, then turned to Brad. "How was that?" she asked, and he gave her a thumbs up.

"Mr. Schue," Puck said once he got into the room – I think he was the last of us to arrive. "_Why _does school have to start, again? Man, senior year hasn't even started yet and it's already a _bitch_…"

"Well, Puck," Mr. Schue started, putting his hands together once we all sat down. "Hopefully you won't think that way for long. I've got some great news for all of you!" There was a pause, and then he continued: "We're going to be competing…in…BOTGC!"

We all groaned. BOTGC stands for Battle of the Glee Clubs…and it's _totally _lame. It doesn't even count as a competition, like Sectionals or Regionals or Nationals! It's just a big waste of time, the way we look at it.

"You didn't let me finish," Mr. Schuster continued. "This year, there's a prize involved…the winner gets a _very _generous check…more then enough money to pay for our trip to Nationals this year. We _need_ that check, you guys. We _need _to win this year. We all – "

"Well, well, well," All of us turned around at the same time to see none other then Jesse St. James. Behind him came Sunshine Corizone, and three nameless other members of Vocal Adrenaline.

"What are _you _doing here?" I demanded.

"I let them in." It was Sue Sylvester.

"Sue – "

" – Now, William, let me explain," Sue countered. Then, she looked to Jesse. "Or…would _you _like to explain, General Handsome Jr.?" Jesse whipped off his dark sunglasses.

"As you know, last year Vocal Adrenaline came in _second _at Nationals – " he glared at Sunshine; she shrugged – "and Dustin Goolsby has been run out of town by an angry mob. But Sue and I here have a deal now. If I took over my old glee club to beat you guys at BOTGC, then Sue will use her extra campaign money to get me back into UCLA. So yeah, you will die."

And then just like that, they left without another word.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

_Rachel's POV_

"Oh sweetie!" Kurt exclaimed from behind me. "You look so beautiful!" Yup, you guessed right – this was Kurt-approved outfit number seventeen.

"So…is seventeen my lucky number?"

"Oh Rach-y…" he hugged me, and we stayed like that for a while.

"Go have fun with Blaine, Kurt," I said. "I'll be okay by myself."

"You sure you don't want me to – "

" – Go!" I yelled over him. He hugged me again and left, not saying another word.

And then I sat there, the butterflies building in my stomach. After minutes that seemed like hours, the doorbell rang._ Oh, my God_…

"Daddy, Dad, Finn's here – I'm leaving – _bye_!" I yelled while I raced down the stairs, wanting to get out before they could play Twenty Questions with Finn. I opened the door and there he was – smiling that adorable lop-sided smile of his.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," I said back. And it was weird – I didn't even _think _of the reference until later. I closed the door behind me and we walked to his car – it was unfortunately silent until I said: "You know, I've never been bowling before…"

"What?" Finn looked at me in shock. "_Everyone's _been bowling before!"

"Not me," I said, shaking my head.

"Well," Finn continued. "We're just going to have to fix that."

The Lima bowling ally was fairly crowded, and smelled like French fries and socks. When we walked in, we were right away met by the loud, lightning-strike noise of someone getting a perfect strike. Behind the counter was a guy who looked in his twenties – he shaggy hair and a look in his eyes that made him seem like he was on another planet.

"What size are you?" He asked, and I just looked at him. "Um, shoe size," he added, seeing that I didn't know what he meant.

"Oh," I said. "Six-and-a-half."

"Twelve," said Finn, and I whispered to him:

"Two of my feet make one of yours…" he laughed, and I couldn't help smiling.

"Okay," said the disheveled twenty-something behind the counter, presenting us with bowling shoes. "You guys can have lane six. Good luck." At that we found lane six, and slipped off our shoes and into the ones the guy had supplied for us.

"Okay," said Finn, grabbing a heavy ball off the rack. "This is how you bowl…" he dropped the ball in my hands but kept holding onto it too from behind me, and I looked up at him. I was met, again, by that adorable lop-sided grin of his. "You wanna throw it right down the middle," he explained. "Just get a grip on it as hard as you can…" he got a harder grip on the ball, which meant he held my hands tighter. "And _throw_!" We both released, and the ball rolled and rolled and rolled. Finally, it landed in the gutter with a thump. I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Like _that_?" I laughed.

"_Exactly _like that!"

We bowled two games and Finn won both of them easily – towards the end of the second game he tried to let me win, but it didn't matter, he was already too far ahead for me to catch up anyway. Afterwards we didn't want the night to be over just yet, so Finn suggested we walk over to the frozen yogurt shop next door. Ironic, isn't it? Bowling and frozen yogurt. Typical New York night out, as Adam or Aaron or Meg would say. No, actually…more of a typical _Lima _night out – and all over again, we didn't want the night to come to an end.

"Let's go for a walk," Finn said. "I know a place we can go."

"Okay," I said.

"It's getting kinda dark," he continued as we walked. "Maybe we should hold hands…so we don't get separated." He winked at me, and I took his hand in mine.

And so we walked, and as we walked, we talked. We talked about everything. He told me how his dad died when he was three, and how his mom had to work two jobs both with crappy pay when he was younger just for them to get by. I told him about Shelby, and how she still didn't call me, and how upset she makes me feel sometimes. He told me that glee club is his favorite thing in the world, and how sometimes, he feels like all he wants to do is sing. I told him how when I play Natalie, I feel like I'm completely and totally her, and not me. Like I just go away and Natalie takes over my body, and only when I step off the stage to I get it back.

"That's sorta…beautiful," Finn said. "I mean…the way you talk about what you do – it's kind of amazing. And beautiful. _You're _beautiful."

And he kissed me.

"Finn," I whispered when our lips parted again. "I'm leaving for New York in two weeks and I won't be coming back for – "

" – _Shhh_," He almost whistled. "I don't care. I don't care…" he mumbled something else, and then smiled at me one more time. "How did that song go, again? …_I can't fix what's fucked up – but one thing I know I can do, I can be perfect for you_…" he whispered.

"_I can be perfect for you_…" I whispered back.

"_Perfect for you_."

And we kissed some more.

**Have I crossed the line of cheesy-ness or was that adorable like it was in my head? Please tell me! And remember what I said up top about the links on my profile! Review please? :)**


	20. A Promise

**Like I said before, way way way **_**waaaaaay **_**too much homework to be legal! :( Anyway, this chapter is Finchel-and-Klaine-tastic! :D Review please! I really want to break one hundred! :) Thanks and enjoy.**

Natalie: "…_Why stay? Why stay? Enduring and coping and hurting and hoping for day after fucking day! Why stay? Why stay? Why not simply end it – we'd all comprehend it and most of the world would say – 'he's better off that way! To be free – and maybe so is she!'_"

Henry: "…_Here's what I say to the girl who is burning so brightly, like the light from Orion above, and still I will search for her nightly – if you see her please send her my love! And that boy was a boy for all seasons – well, that boy is but lost to me now. If the boy has forgotten his reasons, the man still remembers his vows…Knowing one day, we'll remember our joy – you'll remember that girl, I'll remember that boy. I'll be true! This promise I've made, I'll make it brand new – the promise that I make to you!_"

_Chapter Nineteen_

_Finn's POV_

I was just about to leave when there was a knock on the door. Huh – that was…weird. I checked the time on my phone – _9:32 am_. I was only up because I promised Rachel I'd take her to my favorite breakfast spot around town; show her some Lima spirit while I still can. It was out of place that somebody would be here this early during the summer. By this time, whoever must be there knocked again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I yelled to whoever it was behind the door. When I opened it, the door revealed Blaine, standing there looking like he was dressed up for a date. He had flowers in one hand, and two small slips of paper in the other.

"Hey Blaine," I said. "Did we have the same idea?"

"Unless your idea was to wake up your brother with flowers and a top-secret surprise, I don't think so," He responded, laughing a little. "But have fun with Rachel."

"As long as you have fun with Kurt…but not too much fun, my mom and Burt are gonna be home soon." Blaine laughed fully when I said this, and he walked into my house as I walked out.

"Oh, and Finn – " I turned around to face him again. – "'S there anything in my teeth?" He showed me his teeth and I looked them over – nope, totally white and clear.

"You're all good," I said. "Now go wow my brother."

"Thanks man," he said, and we high-fived before I shut the door.

As I got in my car and drove away, Blaine headed up the stairs of the Hudson-Hummel home, as quickly and quietly as he could. He didn't want to wake Kurt up and ruin the surprise – that was the _last _thing he wanted. Oh, he _couldn't wait _to see his boyfriend's face when he saw what he had done for him! The door, luckily, was cracked open just a bit, and so Blaine was able to push it open just the slightest bit more without it making a sound, so he could sneak right in. Kurt slept covered completely in the storm of covers and sheets. He snored ever so slightly and Blaine smiled at his boyfriend's adorable sleeping habits. He hoped, secretly of course, that maybe one day, he'd be able to wake up next to Kurt and hear his sweet, tiny snores every single morning.

"Good morning sleepyhead," Blaine whispered, making his way over to Kurt's bed. He moved back some of the covers every so slightly just to see Kurt's beautiful blue eyes fawn open.

"B-Blaine…?" Kurt sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. Suddenly, he felt the need to wear nicer pajamas to bed – not the old sleep-shirt he was wearing currently and horrible, red plaid pajama pants. "Not that I'm _not _super excited to see you and besides that fact that I'm kind of living a fantasy-come-true right now…but why are here?" Blaine sat down next to Kurt on the side of his bed, and presented his boyfriend the flowers.

"For you," he said, placing the arrangement of different colored roses in his lap, and smiling.

"Oh, Blaine," Kurt breathed. "They're beautiful!" And they were. "But…but what's the occasion?"

"Well," Blaine started. "I've got a surprise for you. I had to _beg _Rachel not tell you, but…" and Blaine handed Kurt one of the two slips of paper in his hand. Kurt gasped, and Blaine smiled. This wasn't just any old piece of paper – it was a ticket. A _Row A __Orchestra_ ticket. To _Next To Normal_. On Broadway.

"Oh my…Oh my holy Idina Menzel…" Kurt was at a loss for words.

"So you like it?"

The only way Kurt could answer this question was to jump up and engulf Blaine in a massive hug-attack.

"I _love _it!" He declared.

"Oh yeah? Well, I _love _you," Blaine said, their noses now barley inches apart.

"I _love _you, too," Kurt whispered. And they kissed, holding each other tightly, secretly vowing that this was their forever. A promise.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx **

As my brother was receiving the surprise of this life, I pulled up to the breakfast spot I'd told Rachel to meet me at – the place I'd come to since I was three, and ordered chocolate chip pancakes and milk. Now, of course, my order has changed a lot, but the memories I have in this place sure haven't changed at all. Rachel parked her car and got out, shutting the door behind her, and I waved to her from across the parking lot.

"Jimmy's," I said, putting my arm around her shoulder. "Jimmy's Diner."

"They sure don't have one of these in New York," she said, shooting me a small, cute smile. We walked in and Carla, one of the waitresses I've known forever, said to me:

"Finny, ya' want to take her to the table by the window, or the booth by the fish tank?"

"Booth, please, Carla," I answered. "I want to show her the fish."

Carla brought us to the booth in question, just at the right angle to observe the fishes in the big, clear aquarium that held them.

"You kids enjoy," she said, handing us two menus.

"Thanks Carla," I said, and she winked at me, mouthing 'she's a cutie' as she walked away. Yeah, Carla – I know she's a cutie. And so we ordered breakfast and talked the whole way through.

"…and I can't wait introduce you to them someday," Rachel was saying about her co-stars. "You already know Meghann, but you still have to meet Adam and Aaron and Alice and Bobby and Louis…and not to mention the crew and, the band…"

"Will you show me New York one day?" I asked, grabbed her hand from across the table. She squeezed my hand with her own and nearly purred:

"Of course I will."

"Do you promise?"

She laughed: "I promise."

Then – "Finn?" – she said, a few minutes later. "It's just…it's just you _know _I'm leaving. You _know _I'm leaving and…not coming back any time soon. You _know _– "

"Rachel," I quieted her. "Yeah. I _know _all those things. What's your point?"

"Why do you think it's even worth it?"

"Because I love you."

We kissed across the table, but this time, it was a first-time, I-want-to-know-you kiss – it was much more then that. It was a deeper kind of kiss, the kind of kiss when you really _know _a person – no matter how long you've had the pleasure to be in their company. That's why Rachel and I have what we have – we just…_know _each other. But it was more then a kiss, too – it was a promise. In that moment, there was a bond, a pact between us, that no matter how far the other would be – we wouldn't care at all.

"I love you too."

And we kissed again.

**Yeah yeah, I know it's way too short. Like I said, school = insane amount of work. :( So…review? :)**


	21. No Exceptions

**We broke 100, guys! :D THANK YOU :D! But don't stop here! Let's try for 150 – hell, let's try for 200! :) So remember – reviews = love! I'm not going to babble here because there is still much homework to be done but I'm writing this anyway, which is why it's way way way way short. :( Thanks and enjoy.**

"_Oh _yeah_, it's gonna be _great_ – it's gonna be fu-cking great!_" – Natalie Goodman

_Chapter Twenty_

_Rachel's POV_

"…and there's an extra room for you at the white house if you want it!" I was on the phone with Krysta Rodriguez as I walked into glee rehearsal. Krysta had been one of the only girls other then Meg I'd been able to really sort of hang out with during the Off-Broadway run, since her show was going to Broadway this season, too. By 'the white house' she means the multi-person NYC apartment shared by herself, Meghann, Josefina Scaglione from the _West Side Story _revival, Annaleigh Ashford, who just got cast as Maureen for the _RENT _revival, and some other Broadway girls I'm friends with. It's called the 'white house' because a bunch of twenty-something Broadway girls are sharing it while we're all on the Great White Way.

"Oh, great," I smiled, a sarcastic joke brewing in my mind, exploding out of my mouth with laughter as the smoke: "S-should I m-move in on W-W-_Wednesday_?" And all hope was lost when I started to stutter, laughing so hard there were tears in my eyes. You see, it's a seriously funny joke because Krysta plays Wednesday Addams in _The Addams Family_!

"Ha-ha-_ha_," Krysta deadpanned. "_Very _funny. But seriously, Rach-y, there's _always_ room for _you_!"

"Thanks, K," I smiled honestly. "But I've got to get back to the same state as you guys first. Then we'll talk." There was some mumbling on the other end, and then she said:

"Josie wants to talk to you," 'Josie' being the nickname Josefina was dubbed with since day one. "See you in about a week, Rach!" There was static until I heard a soft voice yelling at me in Spanish.

"Josie – Josie – _Josie_!" I yelled into the phone to stop her. "I can't understand you when you're speaking _Spanish_!" There was a pause, until Josie said in her very Argentinian accent:

"We miss you like hell here, Rachel!"

"Aw, Jo-Jo, it's just another week!" I said, sitting down in the choir room. "Look, I gotta go, but I'll see you soon, okay?" There was no answer so I added: "_Bueno_?"

"_Bueno_," she laughed. "_Adios_, Rachel – _mi amor_!" This was one of the few Spanish phrases I knew from listening to Josie – basically, she just said 'Okay', laughed, and said 'bye, Rachel – love you!'.

"Well, uh, _mi amor _to you too, Jo-Jo," I said. "Want me to give Meghann the phone?" She said yes, and I got back up out of my chair, walking over to the piano where Meg was seated with Brad, and handed her my cell. "It's Josie and Krysta," I said, and sat back down. Meghann pressed my phone to her ear, talking with whoever was on the other end now – Krysta, Josie, Annaleigh, or one of the other girls – while tapping the music to Lady Gaga's _You And I _with one index finger.

"Guess what came as a special delivery today guys!" Mr. Schue said, walking in with a big brown package in his arms. After many failed guesses from everyone, he answered his own question with: "The Battle Of The Glee Clubs rules and regulations – once we read this, we can start practicing for it!" He tossed the book at Artie, who could it in a _thump! _of pages. "Everyone reads one rule out-loud," the Spanish teacher declared, signaling to Artie to start.

"Okay," the boy adjusted his glasses and read: "Each show choir will preform at least two songs – one of which must be a ballad." He passed the rulebook to Mercedes, and she read:

"No stealing or purposely copying the performance of another competing choir. No exceptions." Everyone's faces read the same thing: they _totally _added that rule because of New Direction's first Sectionals, with what happened with Sue and all.

"No injuring of another preforming party, group or single person, under any circumstances," Quinn read. "No exceptions." She passed the book to me, and I found the next rule.

"A professional performer, defined as someone who has been or is currently paid to preform in front of a live audience who have paid to see the performance, cannot under any circumstances preform in a non-professional competition. No exceptions."

My mouth went dry. I read the rule in my mind again. And again. No – it didn't change.

_No exceptions_.

**Dum dum duuuuuuum! So, my Broadway people – any other Broadway girls you want to see rooming with Rachel? I have a special surprise in the sequel for Kurt, too… Review?**


	22. Sequel Preview One: Mad As A Hatter

**SPOILERS BELOW!**

**Yes, this is a preview of what the sequel will be like – it'll switch from Kurt's POV (although this is 3****rd**** person) to Rachel's, in NY, to Finn's and Blaine's back in Lima. This is a small preview of Kurt's tale, working for the first time on a real Broadway show (called **_**Wonderland**_**, which in real life closed in May, staring Janet Dacal, Darren Ritchie, and Kate Shindle.) So if you want a preview of the sequel, read on! If not, then just tell me some of your ideas for a sequel! Thanks and enjoy. :)**

If Kurt wasn't gay, he figured he'd be in love with Kate Shindle. Kate Shindle was _flawless_ – and not in the Regina George way, in the legitimately _flawlessly flawless _way. Kurt figured she was _perfect_ – there were days when he wanted to check her back for angel wings, and more often then not, people called her 'Goddess' – the director of _Wonderland_, their co-stars, and even Kurt himself kept the nickname alive because it was just _too _fitting not to use! Perfectand flawless. Those were the only adjectives he could use to describe her. Or maybe he could use the adjectives…faultless, spotless, immaculate, unadulterated, seamless, impeccable…etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

If you had told him one year ago that in a year's time, Kurt Hummel would be best friends with Tony-nominated Rachel Berry, have his very own apartment in New York City, be roommates with Kate Shindle and work beside her eight times a week in a new Broadway show based on _Alice In Wonderland_, he would have smacked you up the side of your head and told you that you were mentally insane and obviously needed to seek immediate medical treatment.

But now, here he was, walking into one of the most talked-about salons in the city he holds so dear. The door made one of those automatic _bing! _noises when he opened it. The salon's walls were painted a pretty, sea-foam green, and the entire place smelled like warm vanilla sugar hand lotion from _Bath & Bodyworks_. Kurt smiled when he saw his Goddess sitting there in one of the brown, wood-ish-looking chairs waiting for him, with a copy of _Broadway _magazine in her lap. She saw him there, too, and she smiled, but Kurt knew her smile was riddled with pain – the Tony nominations had been announced earlier today, and _nothing _from _Wonderland _had gotten any sort of nod whatsoever. No cast nominations, no crew nominations, no book, score, or effects nominations…_nothing_. Kurt never thought in a million, billion years that he'd ever see Kate Shindle cry.

"Hey," he said, sitting down next to her. The magazine in her lap was open to a page all about the Tony's. He took it, closed it, and put it back on the little table in front of them. "Don't you get yourself upset now, Goddess," he said. "No more of that. We're not even in danger of closing yet, and you know it. Things are stable – things are fine. Who needs a freakin' Tony?"

She laughed, and Kurt thought somewhere in the world, joy was restored.

"But I'm serious," he continued. "A year ago I was just a regular teenager in _Lima, Ohio_! And now…I get to work with _Kate Shindle _eight nights a week! That's pretty amazing itself, huh?" He elbowed her.

"You _are_ pretty amazing, Kurt-y," she said in a whispery voice, and winked at him. "Did Rachel come with you?" she asked.

"No," she answered. "She said she can't – too busy with…everything going on." He was careful not to say '_rehearsing for the Tony's and writing her speech_'. "But she sends her love, as always. Is Laura Bell back from Nashville yet?"

"No," Kate said. "She got held up at the airport. Delayed flight or something."

"So I guess it's just you and me today, Goddess."

"Guess so…"

"I am _not _going to let _Katherine Renee Shindle _sit here and feel sorry for herself," he said. "Must we play the 'who am I' game?" she giggled when he said this, and shook her head. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Kate Shindle."

"Would do you do?"

"I preform."

"Why do you do what do?"

"To give and receive joy."

"Who are you?"

"I'm mad as a hatter!"

They both laughed.

"Now c'mon," Kurt said, getting up and taking her by the hand. "I don't know about you, but _I _want one of those fancy mud baths."

And they laughed the whole day through.

**Huh? Huh? Huh? Another preview after this! :)**


	23. Sequel Preview Two: I Will Prevail

**SPOILERS BELOW!**

**Second and last (so far) preview you will get of the sequel! From Kurt's POV (in 3****rd**** person) again, but at a reviewer's request I'll do one or two from Rachel's or Finn's or Blaine's. Same thing I said before – you want a taste of the sequel? Read on! You don't? Tell me some ideas you might have! Thanks and enjoy. :)**

One would think that Kurt's favorite number in his current musical, _Wonderland_, would be _The Mad Tea Party_ – the song he sings lead in. If he shot that idea down, the next sensible guess would be _A Nice Little Walk_, his duet with his co-star and roommate, Kate. No, he'd say that guess was wrong, too.

Kurt's favorite number, by a long shot, was _I Will Prevail_. He had a small part in this number – a mute one, where he neither sung nor spoke, but simply ran onstage when Goddess screamed "Morris – bring in the bait!", nodded to her that he would do so, and reappeared with Carly, the little girl playing twelve-year-old Chloe, onstage once more. Goddess's character, the Mad Hatter, tells Carly's character, Chloe, a little bit about her evil plans and Kurt simply gets to stand there – watching, observing, soaking in all of the minuscule talent anti-bodies encircling Kate Shindle like a force-field of perfection, hoping that maybe, just maybe, he met be lucky enough to accidentally ingest one or two. Then, after those perfect, crystal moments, she speaks to him again.

"Take her to the tallest tower!" Goddess proclaimed, and Kurt, in character as Morris the March Hare, always did so, dragging Chloe by the arm as she kicked and screamed.

"You are looking at _such _a lawsuit!" She yelled, finally forming words as she and Kurt disappeared into the wings. And then once they were safely offstage, Carly, being twelve-going-on-forty as she was, would tap Kurt on the shoulder and direct him over the small, dark path that brought them backstage again.

"Thanks kiddo," he'd whispered to the girl, blocking his microphone during shows or put-ins, "But I'll catch up with you later." And then he'd just stand there, rehearsal or show alike, and watch her belt out the rest of the song.

"Why do you have it in for Alice?" An ensemble member shoved Darren, who was playing Jack the White Knight, to his knees – Jack had been captured by the Hatter not even a scene ago.

"Before I lay it to ruin," Goddess bent down to be eye-level with the Knight. "I believe this kingdom formed a chessboard…where the rules clearly state that two pieces cannot occupy the same square at the same time! One must _take _the other." Kurt always shivered when she said the last part of that line. The way she played Hatter…it was so…_composed_. As if…as if pure, untouched _madness_ was part of her everyday routine.

"Cowards die many times, Hatter," Jack retorted. "The valiant die but once."

"You'll find, White Knight, that _once_ will be _enough_." And, with the raise of her hand, Jack the White Knight, Caterpillar, and El Gato – the awesome Latino version of the Cheshire Cat – were taken away. Then, she sang again, and Kurt was sure that angels were a sickly green with envy.

"…_It's over! _

_You die, I thrive – _

_And so it goes. _

_I am the ending _

_Of your tragic fairytale. _

_I will survive –_

_And Heaven knows,_

_There is no way that I can fail – _

_I will prevail!_"

A high E. A _perfect _high E.

"That was great, Kate," the director of their musical said, leaning into the mic poking up from his small table. This wasn't a show, it was a rehearsal – but by the utter emotion in Goddess's eyes, you would swear that it's opening night all over again. "Lunch break, everyone!"

"Hiya, Kurt," Kurt whipped around – _Wesley_.

"Wes!" He exclaimed. "Hey! What…what are you – ?"

" – Rachel, Aaron, Adam and Krysta are waiting outside," he said, cutting Kurt off, fooling around with his hair. "They w-wanted to know if you and Kate wanted to g-go get something to eat."

It was cute and really sweet how Wesley had a crush on him, Kurt thought. He couldn't do anything about it right now, however – he wanted to remain friends with the boy from _The Addams Family_, and he didn't want Blaine to find out. Not that Blaine would be mad, or not trust Kurt completely, but…he missed his boyfriend like crazy, and really didn't want to stir the pot. As for Kurt's feelings himself, he only had eyes for Blaine. Blaine and only Blaine. And of course Kate Shindle, but that's different.

"Hey! Goddess!" Kurt yelled to her, still hanging out onstage.

Kate had a thing about _always _wearing the appropriate Mad Hatter hat during rehearsals, or even read throughs – "it helps me get into character", she says, but Kurt always figured she had just became a hat person. Now you could find her in jeans and a t-shirt with a crown on it – Kurt knew there had to be some sentimental tie to her Miss America past lying there – and the second Mad Hatter hat, the grey one with the black feather, placed effortlessly on her head.

"Hmm?" She asked, her mouth full of water. She swallowed, and was still panting a little from the high E.

"Wanna go somewhere for lunch with Rachel, Aaron, Adam, Krysta and Wes?"

"You know you want too, Katie!" Wes put in, giving Andrew Rannells worthy puppy-dog eyes.

"Well…" Kate wasn't one to leave the building during rehearsals, but shrugged and said: "Okay."

Once outside, both Kurt and Kate had to squint and blink quickly to adjust to the change of light. They were greeted by the open arms of Kurt's now best friend Rachel.

"Hey!" She said happily, hugging Kurt and then Kate. "How's it all going so far?"

"Did I mention I love New York?"

"Sweetie-pie, who doesn't?"

"Well, one thing's for sure," Kurt mused as the group walked on. "I never want to leave."

**So…? :)**


	24. Emotion

**So I've been way too busy to update recently because **_**guess what**_**! The school play (not musical yet – that's in the winter/spring) is **_**Little Women **_**(which I **_**love**_**!) and I thought for sure I'd just be put in the ensemble but I got Amy! :D Yay yay yay yay yaaaaaaaaaaay! :D At my high school, according to advisor group (homeroom), each freshman is assigned a "big sister" who is a junior (it's an all-girls Catholic high school, hence why it's just "big **_**sister**_**") to help them out and stuff their first year. My "big sister" is a junior named Madison who got Meg (so awesome) and one of her best friends is senior named Kendra who got Jo (also awesome), and the girl who got Beth is a really hyper senior named Lexi (again, awesome). When I see Lexi in the halls now she points to me and goes '**_**Amyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy**_**!' Yeah, **_**hyper**_**. :) So that's what's up in my life now, hope it didn't bore you to sleep. :)**

**We're almost done with this story! But never fear, there will be a sequel, and it will be called **_**Crazy Is Perfect**_**. :) I'll post it **_**ASAP **_**after this story is over, but don't worry; we've still got a few chapters so stay tuned! :) Hope you liked the previews I posted, although I didn't get many reviews for them, so remember to review please! :) This chapter doesn't move the story much, but I wanted Finn (and you guys, too) to see Rachel's real reasons for her emotional connection to Natalie. Lyrics are **_**Make Up Your Mind / Catch Me I'm Falling **_**from **_**Next To Normal**_**, of course! :) Thanks and enjoy.**

Natalie: "_That's nice. I mean, for _jazz _piano!_"

Henry: "_I am so pretending you didn't say it that way._"

Natalie: "_It's just – the thing with jazz is, how do you ever know if you've got it right? It's just making shit up!_"

Henry: "_Which is also known as the act of creation._"

Natalie: "_Oh, so you're one of those pretentious stoner types._"

Henry: "_Wrong – I am not pretentious! And I'm definitely not _classical_! It's so ridged, structured – you have to play the notes on the page. There's no room for improvisation._"

_Chapter Twenty-One _

_Finn's POV_

"Okay!" Meghann put her hands together. "Kurt – I need you to be Gabe here, okay? And uh, Mike – you've been working on your vocals, right? You stand here and be Dr. Madden. I'll be Diana, unless any of you girls want to step up to Alice Ripley's plate…no? Okay then, I'll be Diana. And Finn, oh– _Finn_! You need to be Henry. Yup, just stand right here, next to Rachel. And remember – you just told her you _love _her, mm'k? Now Will, can you be Dan for us? Thanks."

When Meghann Fahy was in work-mode, we all soon realized, it was like a being caught in a tornado. In about two minutes she had not only cast the entire musical – Rachel apparently 'hadn't been practicing enough' and Meg 'needed us to help her realize the matter at hand', hence why we were doing _Make Up Your Mind / Catch Me I'm Falling _from N2N for this rehearsal time anyway – but she had also given everyone who needed it – including Brad and the band – sheet music with their lines and lyrics highlighted, the only ones who didn't have or need it was Meghann herself and, of course, Rachel. What did I tell ya', huh? _Tornado_. She had set up the chairs so it created the look of three levels, even though all of us were standing on one solid floor. The rest of the New Directions were the audience – or _house_, as Rachel and Meg would call it – and we were facing them, highlighted sheet music in hand. Meg was seated in the only un-turned-over chair, Mike standing there next to her, pacing around her, doing his best 'I'm-a-doctor' face.

"Diana," he read. "It's been almost three weeks and we've still yet to break through to the roots of your depression. I'd like to try something new today. Sometimes when these stories are hard to tell, hypnosis can be helpful – "

" – Oh, I don't think I can be _hypnotized_," Meg interrupted him, knowing the script so well that even though she was playing a different part, she didn't need anything to assist her at all. "I mean, it's fine, I'm just…not the type…"

"Put your feet on the floor," Mike said, and she did. "And your hands flat in your lap." Again, she did what he said. "Now breath." A deep breath from both of them, and Mike started to sing:

"_Walk with me – _

_Walk with me – _"

"Okay, walking," she spoke sarcastically, getting a laugh from a handful of New Directions.

"_Go all the way down_,

_Down a long flight of stairs_,

_Go step-by-step into the darkness down there_ – "

" – Should we turn on a light?" Meg asked as Diana, opening one eye. "You know – for the stairs?" Mike took an agitated breathed and sung:

"_Walk with me – _

_Down a hall_

_A hall that you know – _

_At the end there's a door_ –

_It's a door that you've never laid eyes on before._

_Open the door_

_Open the door!_"

Brad played some pretty, bell-like music as everything else in the room went dead silent; Meghann, with both eyes closed, slowly reached out her hand and mimicked turning a doorknob.

"Can you hear me, Diana?" Mike asked hesitantly.

"Yes," Meghann whispered.

"Are you nervous?"

"No."

"Good," Mike nodded. "Now – " and he sung:

"_Make up your mind to explore yourself,_

_Make up your mind – you've got stories to tell!_

_We'll search through your past_

_For what sorrows may last – _

_Make up your mind to be well_."

"Diana, you come home from these sessions in tears," Mr. Schue, off-scene in his own little spot closest to the New Directions, spoke. "Is this helping, or – Di? _Di_?"

"We were both undergrads," Meghann continued speaking in a whisper-y voice, her eyes still closed. "Architecture. The baby wasn't planned – neither was the marriage. I always thought busy but…when the baby came it all seemed to make scene until…"

"Until?" Mike asked gravely, and Mr. Schue sang:

"_He's not here_,

_He's not here_ –

_Love, I know you know!_" And Mike continued:

"_Make up your mind to live stronger now_

_Make up your mind – let the truth be revealed._

_Admit what you've lost_

_And live with the cost – _

_At times it does hurt to be healed_."

Kurt then stepped out to be seen by the other New Directions, on what Meg's turned-over chairs made look like the third level of _Next To Normal_'s three-level set. He danced out and stuck out his hand as if he were reaching down for Meghann, a desperate look in his eyes. He sang:

"_Catch me I'm falling_…" And Mike spoke in-between his lyrics, starting with:  
>"If you tell me your story you own it, Diana…"<p>

"_Catch me I'm falling…_"

"If you don't, you keep it hidden…"

"_Faster then anyone should. Catch me I'm falling…_"

"And it owns you…"

With Meghann now: "_Please hear me calling…_"

"What's your story, Diana?"

"_Catch me I'm falling for good_."

Then it was our turn, Rachel and I becoming visible to the house of New Directions. In the scene, Natalie was about to go on for her big piano recital – it would determine if she got into Yale's music program or not. Henry, being a good boyfriend – which I try to be, too, cheesy-ness and all – snuck backstage to give her flowers, and finds her there freaking out.

"Hey," I read, acting like there were flowers in my hand. "I'm not supposed to be back here, but for luck – " I pretended to hand her the flowers, and she pretended to put them on one of the oddly-turned-over chairs, using it as a table.

"Did you see my parents out there?" She worried and scared and has tears in her eyes, so Henry asks Natalie what any good boyfriend _should _ask his girlfriend if she was ever in this position:

"Are you okay?"

"I'm _fine_!" She answered him sharply, total Natalie-style, according to Rachel. "My dad said they'd both be here…"

"Then I'm sure they will be."

"Yeah. Right." As she said the line, Rachel walked around me and acted like she was looking for someone out in the crowd of New Directions. When her search comes up short, she sighed and turned back to me.

"We had Natalie, too…" Meghann said, continuing the whole overlapping-scene thing. "And I know she knows. I couldn't hold her in the hospital."

"Where the _hell _are they?" Rachel demanded, her voice riddled with sadness and pain.

"I…I couldn't let myself hold her!" Meg continued, and Mike looked over to her, a shocked look on his face.

"That's the first time you've mentioned Natalie in weeks of therapy!"

"God _dammit_!"

It's so quick that if you blinked you would've missed it, but there it was, cutting through everyone's souls like a blade – that's what it was, a blade. A stab – quick and fast, but leaving you bleeding and writhing in pain. And it all came clear to me in that one line of her performance: that was _Natalie_…_Rachel's_ Natalie – she was made up of pain, sadness, disappointment, love, joy…_emotion_ the way any human being is made up of nerves and cells and blood and organs. She is _emotion_. She was created out of what you felt when you were six, and you cried because you dropped your ice cream cone and it felt as if you had dropped the whole world along with it. She was borne out of that feeling every girls gets when she sees her 'boyfriend' kissing her 'best friend' and finds out that _yes_, he _was _cheating on her. She came to be from the feeling in the pit of your stomach you get when you're on the roof of a tall building, getting closer and closer to the edge – you don't want to fall off, of course, but you want the exhilaration, you want the feel of pushing yourself _to feel_. She is that time you opened your report card and got all _A_s, and that time you opened a different report card and got your very first _C_ or _D_. She is every insult you've ever heard, every bully on the playground, every fairytale with a happy ending. She is everything you've ever felt and everything you ever will feel, every day you shall live on this earth.

Natalie is _emotion_.

And it was so quick that if you blinked you would've missed it, but there it was, cutting through everyone's souls like a blade…that one second. That one _perfect _second, where Rachel Berry couldn't possibly have been _Rachel Berry _at all – no, she couldn't have been. She was _Natalie Goodman_. She stamped her left foot so hard on the ground that it could have caused an earthquake, holding her face in her hands. Henry is left standing behind her, defenseless, as stopping a stampede of wild elephants would have been an easier task. She screams – or, maybe…more _whispers_, as if it were a secret – those two words, that cold feeling of pain welling up inside her. And there she was – the girl made up of emotion. But…one emotion lacked. _Anger_. She was not angry. She was every other emotion in the book – sad, disappointed, betrayed, hurt, abandoned…but she was not angry. She was hurting, she was in pain…but she was not _angry_. Natalie Goodman was _never _angry. And as I stood there, paralyzed, Rachel opened her mouth and sang like an angel, her eyes filled with tear and her whole body semi-shaking as her voice quivered with feeling.

"_She's not there!_

_She's not there!_

_She's not there!_"

And, for a moment, all was still.

"_Make up your mind – you want clarity!_

_Take what you know and then make it make scene_

_Admit what you fear,_

_And soon it'll come clear – _

_The visions are just your defense!_"

Kurt, far from a 'vision', basically looked like he was going to lung for Meghann at this point. His eyes were fire, and she sang with her:

"_Catch me I'm falling_…" continuing again as Rachel and I went on with our part of the scene.

"Nat?" I asked her.

"_Catch me I'm falling_…"

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Rachel and Kurt now:

"_Losing myself in the air_…"

"Natalie, please…?" After my line, Meghann along with the two of them:

"_Catch me I'm falling_

_Don't leave me crawling,_

_Catch me and show that you care_…"

I now left the impromptu second-level, leaving Rachel there as Natalie, as if she had a piano in front of her, and she was playing to get into Yale.

"Um…th-thank you all f-for coming…" she took a deep breath. "This is 'Invention in C'." Brad played for her and Rachel just moved her fingers, simply because there was only one piano in the room. Things were going well piano wise, then – a wrong key, and, disaster. "Fuck," she whispered.

"Let's try to understand what all this is really doing to you, and your family…" Mike spoke as Rachel tried again with the same result and the same curse word. "Your grief for your son…your distance from Natalie…"

"I…I'm sorry – it's just – the thing is, it's – " Rachel gave up, a brand new emotion pulsing through her veins. Still, however, it wasn't anger. Hope, maybe? Letting go? Is that even an emotion, 'letting go'? Letting go… "You know what the problem with _classical _is? It's so _rigid_, _structured _– you have to play the notes on the page…there's no room for _improvisation_!"

And leave it to Henry to say: "Oh no…"

Then, all the singing parts started to overlap, Meghann's part was a repeated:

"_Catch me I'm falling_

_Falling – _

_I'm falling – _"

As Mike sang:

"_Make up your mind to be free at last – _

_Make up your mind to be truly alive – _

_Embrace what's inside the place that has died,_

_And make up your mind to survive!_"

While Rachel and Kurt sang, almost trying to out-do each other:

"_Catch me I'm falling – _

_Catch me I'm falling – _

_Flying head first into fate._

_Catch me I'm falling – _

_Please hear me calling – _

_Catch me before it's too late,_

_Catch me before it's too late,_

_Catch me before it's too late!_

_Catch me I'm falling – _

_Catch me I'm falling – _

_Catch me I'm_

_Falling!_"

Meghann opened her eyes and took Kurt's hand, which was reached out to her all this time from above. Rachel buried her face in my shoulder and I hold onto her, embracing my inner Henry. Mike and Mr. Schue were out opposite sides of the 'stage', fading.

And the house of New Directions burst into applause.

**So…review? :) **


	25. Heart

**So **_**Little Women **_**rehearsal was going normal (great!) today and then my director tells me that I'm eventually going to have to kiss the guy who plays Laurie. A senior. Yeah, I'm a freshman. Not sure if I should be excited or grossed out. Also, our winter/spring musical was just announced…it's **_**Anything Goes**_**! (Am I the only one who sees the Sutton Foster theme here?) Anyway, so excited! Oh my God I just looked outside and it's snowing at my house! In October! Ahhh! So – review, people, review! :) Lyrics are at the bottom. Thanks and enjoy.**

"…_I feel my responsibility as an actor is to always be present. There's a real difference between watching someone 'act' and not evening thinking someone's 'acting' and just watching them _be_ this role. …The second that I think of what I'm actually doing, the second that I think of myself on a set, in a theater with all these people watching – _that's_ when I mess myself up. When I do [Next To Normal] and someone outside at the stage door tells me I told their story, and their crying to me, and they want to hug me, then I feel like I did my job. Essentially, I feel like I'm connecting with the audience when I can't remember what just happened. Those are the moments that change people, and touch people, and I didn't always know that something like that was inside of me…I never thought a girl like Natalie would come out of me, but she did. I think Natalie and I are completely different, but also totally the same. Does that make sense? What I mean is…Natalie is just this raw, raw character. She's so real she's practically a real person, and not a _character _at all. She's an extension of my feelings, of _everyone's _feelings…sometimes, I like to call her a 'spirit animal.' Deep down, we all have a piece of Natalie inside of us – it just depends on when it'll come out_." – Jennifer Damiano

_Chapter Twenty-Two_

_Rachel's POV_

For basically the first time in my entire life, I was sitting on the sidelines. Meg and I watched from the front row of red chairs as the New Directions practiced and prepared new _Journey _numbers for BOTGC – Battle of the Glee Clubs, the summer competition that'll pay our way for Nationals this year, and – oh. Never mind. _Their _way to Nationals. _Right_. Finn started singing _Lights _and that became a mash-up when Quinn and Santana added parts of _Can Do_, and…it _did not _work. By any stretch of the imagination. I let out a long, painful sigh.

"This sucks," I whispered to Meghann. "Why do they suck all of a sudden? You're co-director – get the hell in there!" Meg sighed too, a mournful one, and shook her head.

"There's nothing I can do," she said, as if she were a doctor telling me she did all she could to save a patient who had just flat-lined. "But it's not their talent…they lost their fighting spirit. They've got no heart in it."

"But even then, they can't just start _sucking _even if they've lost their – "

" – Rach," she interrupted me. "Think about it. What would Natalie be without her fighting spirit? What would Natalie be without her _heart_?"

"Nothing."

"Exactly."

They stopped singing – Thank _God_! – and everyone let out moans of sadness – they knew exactly how bad they were.

"We suck!" It was Quinn who said it.

"No we don't!" Mr. Schue countered. "It's just…we…"

"Actually, Quinn," Meghann said, standing up and walking to her place next to Mr. Schue. "You're right. I'm sorry, but, you guys need some tough love right now. That performance was _awful_. _Pitiful_! Alice Ripley would be ashamed! Honestly, it's _not _your talent – it's your effort. You have the potential to be great, and you're just not tapping into it – you don't _care _enough!"

Some glee club members had looks on their faces as if they were saying 'how dare she insult us!' while others had facial expressions that showed how they knew it was true.

"I _thought _I had showed you all how much heart means with _Make Up Your Mind / Catch Me I'm Falling _last practice. I _thought _you could all see how much it _all _really means. Enough with the 'just do your best' _crap_! You think Rachel and I got to Broadway by _just doing our best_? Hell, no! We had to become _better_! And now, it's your turn to be _better _then your best!"

"She's right," it was Finn who said it. "Just look at last year. And Regionals the year before that. We did our best and still what happened? We got beat…_twice_! It's not enough anymore. Are we in it to win it? Because if we're not, you guys, we shouldn't be in it at all."

There was a painful, cold silence, and then Mr. Schue started to say:

"Okay guys, let's – "

" – Mr. Schuster," I stood up, interrupting him. "I'm sorry, but I think you guys are going about this all wrong. Can I make a suggestion? No more _Journey_."

"But…_Journey _is s –"

" – symbolic. Yeah, yeah, yeah…" said Meghann. "But it's not where your heart's at, not anymore at least.

"You've moved past the journey you guys were on when you first started…" I added. "This – this _now_, is something different. Something much more…_real_. You need a ballad. A _real _ballad." A glance at Finn, and it was clear. "And I know just the one."

_Without You_

_The Ground Thaws_

_The Rain Falls_

_The Grass Grows_

_Without You_

_The Seeds Root_

_The Flowers Bloom_

_The Children Play_

_The Stars Gleam_

_The Poets Dream_

_The Eagles Fly_

_Without You_

_The Earth Turns_

_The Sun Burns_

_But I Die_

_Without You_

_Without You_

_The Breeze Warms_

_The Girl Smiles_

_The Cloud Moves_

_Without You_

_The Tides Change_

_The Boys Run_

_The Oceans Crash_

_The Crowds Roar_

_The Days Soar_

_The Babies Cry_

_Without You_

_The Moon Glows_

_The River Flows_

_But I Die_

_Without You_

_The World Revives_

_Colors Renew_

_But I Know Blue_

_Only Blue_

_Lonely Blue_

_Within Me, Blue_

_Without You_

_Without You_

_The Hand Gropes_

_The Ear Hears_

_The Pulse Beats_

_Without You_

_The Eyes Gaze_

_The Legs Walk_

_The Lungs Breathe_

_The Mind Churns (The Mind Churns)_

_The Heart Yearns (The Heart Yearns)_

_The Tears Dry_

_Without You_

_Life Goes On_

_But I'm Gone_

'_Cause I Die_

_Without You_

_Without You_

_Without You_

_Without You_

But it wasn't my ballad to sing. And it wasn't my suggestion to give. It wasn't mine – none of it was. I wasn't there – I _wasn't_. It happens like a cold, whispery feeling that builds in your soul – it cuts you. There's pain, literal pain – then shivers of silver stardust dancing through your ears, taunting you like the woeful ghosts they are. The lyrics. _Those _lyrics.

…_Life goes on – but I'm gone. 'Cause I die without you_…

_Without you_.

But…who is 'you' supposed to be, anyway? In the musical, of course, it's sung by Mimi and Roger, but to a more literal standpoint…

My first thought, of course, is Finn. In just a short time, I'd be moving back to New York, moving back away from home all over again.

_Home_...

Maybe _that's _it, then! Was that it? _Was that it? _Was _that _it?

_Home is not a place, an address you memorize –_

_Or more then seven flights to apartment 8A_

_It's where you'll never feel lonely_

_Whenever you're alone – _

_That's how you know_

_You are home._

_How I wish that we could feel that – _

_Somehow, right now – _

_How I wish that we could feel that again_

_Oh maybe, we'll find it again!_

_Home _

_Is like a smile you see in a photograph – _

_No matter what you do, it's not supposed to change – _

_Why can't we all be together – _

_The way it used to be?_

_Back on the ground_

_No more racing around_

_Here_

_Safe and sound_

_At home._

Maybe that was just it. I didn't have a home. This – Lima, that is – was never where I belonged – I've always known that much. But isn't home only as good as the people in it? Another glance at Finn, and this theory is re-affirmed. Don't get me wrong here. My cast, my New York family – they're my life. My future. Where the bird that is my career will learn to fly. Lima – Lima is my past. My childhood. Where the sidewalk ended. And now…what's left? My present. Where – where is it? Where is my present? Where am I – where am I now? Where is my heart?

As Samantha Brown would say: …_nothing's gone but nothing's lasting…I'm split – my heart is split – my home, it must be here. I'm cut in half, I'm home but I'm still here…like to two separate lives that I live between – it's a strange new world here at home that's knit – my heart is split…_

Maybe Samantha Brown knew what she was talking about after all. Maybe _that's _why Meg wants to get her to make theater so badly. Maybe Sam's message is just as important as Natalie's...

…_Take this sinking boat_

_And guide it _

_Home,_

_We've still got time._

_Raise your hopeful voice,_

_You have a choice – _

_You make it now._

_Falling slowly,_

_These eyes – they know me,_

_And they can't come _

_Back._

_Routes that take me,_

_And erase me – _

_And I paint it all _

_Black._

_Well you have suffered_

_Enough_

_And still it comes undone,_

_It's time that you've_

_Won_…

This was home. The cage that my little bird flew out of. But you wonder – when the bird flies free, does it even wish it never took the chance, never ventured out into the great unknown? Maybe if the little bird looked around it's cage a little more, it would've discovered that maybe it's really not that bad to be limited. Or maybe it is. Maybe the little bird would have suffocated and died.

Maybe the little bird would have never learned to fly.

_Superboy and the invisible girl – _

_Son of steal and daughter of air_

_He's a hero, a lover, a prince,_

_She's not there!_

_Super and the invisible girl – _

_Everything a kid oughtta be_

_He's immortal, forever alive – _

_Then there's me._

_I wish I could fly, _

_And magically appear and disappear._

_I wish I could fly – _

_I'd fly far away from here!_

_Superboy and the invisible girl – _

_He's the one you wish would appear!_

_He's your hero, your savior, your son – _

_He's not here!_

_I am here!_

_Take a look at the invisible girl – _

_Here she is – clear as the day!_

_Please look closely and find her before – _

_She fades away!_

_Superboy and the invisible girl – _

_Son of steal and daughter of air _

_He's a hero, a lover, a prince –_

_She's not there!_

_She's not there!_

_She's not there!_

_She's not there!_

I knew it. I knew it now.

I knew what I had to do.

**Oooh…what's Rachel gonna do? Read to find out… **

**Lyrics:**

_**Without You **_**from **_**RENT**_

_**Home **_**from **_**Wonderland**_

_**My Heart is Split **_**from **_**The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown**_

_**Falling Slowly **_**by Glen Hansard**

_**Superboy and the Invisible Girl **_**from **_**Next To Normal **_**(minus Diana's four lines) **

**So…review?**


	26. I Am The One Reprise

**So **_**Little Women **_**rehearsal got canceled today because there's a freakin' snow storm outside…in **_**October**_**! Translation: grrrrrr! :( Well, as Jennifer Damiano would say: oh, well. :) Just watched a webisode of **_**Show People**_** and the guest was Alice Ripley! :) Going to listen to Jenn Damiano's as I write this now :) So. People. Review. Please. Please. Please. :) Thanks and enjoy.**

"_I am more than memory – _

_I am what might be – _

_I am mystery._

_Come closer – _

_Come closer – _

_I am old as time,_

_I'm forever young,_

_I am every song that will stay unsung – _

_I'll find you._

_Remind you._

_Until you name me – _

_You can't tame me!_

_This is one old game_

_That I can play so well – _

_I'm alive I'm alive _

_I am so alive – _

'_Cause the medicine failed_

_And the doctors lied!_

_I'm alive, alive – _

_And I'll never die!_

_I'm alive, I'm alive_

_I'm alive!_" – Gabe Goodman, _I'm Alive (Reprise) _

_Chapter Twenty-Three_

_Rachel's POV_

It was raining when I finally got there. It was cold, and it was raining. My GPS got me lost, and after a couple of wrong turns and not-so-short short-cuts, I had finally gotten there. And I froze. I froze in place, like it was a heavy burden on my entire body just to park the car. I told myself to open the door, and I sat there for about fifteen minutes before I actually could do it. And so I ran out into the rain, and simply stood there for a moment before I could force my hand to knock on the door…then, there were twenty-five seconds of nothingness. Only the sharp, cold pounding of the rain behind me, mocking me as I stood there, screaming at me with it's rough, angry voice. The wind blew chills down my spine, and I tried not to keep from shaking. Or maybe that wasn't the wind at all. _Rain, rain, go away, come again another day…_

"Rachel?"

She opened the door, and I flinched. Of course I knew seeing baby Beth would be part of the bargain…but it hurt. It hurt seeing her in wrapped up in her arms, safe and happy and warm. It hurt. It was like seeing my replacement. Like Gabe singing '_she's not there_' with Natalie all over again. He was saying '_you're not good enough, you'll never be good enough_'. But Beth was just a baby. She didn't _know _that just her very presence was a whispered '_she's not there_'...she couldn't, and she never would. It wasn't her fault. And I shouldn't blame her for it. And…she does look awfully sweet – Quinn's blonde hair and big green-ish-brown-ish eyes, Puck's dopey smile…

"Hi Shelby."

Beth was only an anthill compared to the mountain I'd force myself to climb now.

"It's freezing out, get inside."

Her living room was messy – baby toys thrown everywhere, clutter stacked in random, furrowed piles. The walls were a light cream color and it matched well with the darker-colored carpet, but you wouldn't be able to tell with all the random-colored baby stuff spread out throughout the entire room. There was pink, pink, and more pink, but also yellows and greens and oranges and the occasional red – all colors of teddy bears and pacifiers, play-pins and teething rings.

_She's not there – She'snotthere – She's_not**there** – She's not there –

"Sit," she said, "Make yourself comfortable. Do you want anything to eat or drink, or – "

" – I'm fine," I said. "I'm great."

"You're '_great_'?" She asked, sitting down in a chair parallel to me after she set little Beth down in her play-pin. "Rachel…honey, why are you here?"

…_I am the one who knows you –_

_I am the one you fear – _

_I am the one who's always been here!_

_I am the one who'll heal you,_

_I know you told her that I'm_

_Not worth a damn._

_But I know you know who I am…_

I'm not sure why those particular lyrics came to my mind at that particular time, but they did. Natalie wasn't even in that number. That was Gabe's part; those were Gabe's lyrics. That was _I Am The One (Reprise)_, the number sang when Dan finally sees Gabe and calls him by his name, the first time it's done by anyone in the entire show.

"I just…" _I know you know who I am _"…I…wanted to see you…" _I know you know who I am_ "…And…And Shelby I need to tell you something." She was taken aback a moment, blinked, and then said:

"Alright."

Oh, my _God_…

_That _was it! _That _was _it_! The look in her eyes. The expression on her face. _That was it_!

I wasn't her Natalie. She wasn't my Diana. No, not at all! _That _was it! I wasn't her Natalie and she wasn't my Diana. No, no, _no_!I was her Gabe and she was my Dan. I was her Gabe – the child she lost. The love she'd never get to give. The hunger she'd never get to feed, the thirst she'd never get to quench, the fever she'd never get to sooth. I was her Gabe – always there, silently watching in the back of her mind, in the churning of her stomach. I wasn't here. I was there. I was her Gabe – I was her ghost, her deceased loved one she'd never get to grieve over, silently screaming in her ear, always in the corner of her eye. Always there, never here.

_He's not here_

_He's not here_

_Love, I know you know –_

_Do you feel he's still real?_

_Love, it's just not so!_

_Why is it you still believe?_

_Do you dream, or do you grieve?_

_You've got to let him go!_

_He's been dead _

_All these years_

_No, my love – _

_He's not here._

And I was dead to her. I had to be. In order for her to move on – to live, to survive without me, to _heal _the wound I left bleeding all this time – I was _dead_. I wasn't here. I was there. _There_, in the strange, far-off, unreachable other world that is New York City. I was _there_ in my Heaven, my Eden, my golden, glorious hue of forever-ever Wonderland, Neverland, Willy's Wonka's Chocolate Factory, and I would not come back. I _could not _come back. It simply was not possible. I would live on in the afterlife, she'd believe, in my happy childhood haze forever, those silent silver years untouched and unspoiled by her imperfect hands, her unworthy affection. And when she saw me, those few times she'd just oh-so randomly drop into my life – they were mishaps. _Hallucinations_. I was a ghost, a spirit – a memory, a mystery…but when I appeared, it was not so clear if I was a simple spirit, or flesh and blood…because I was alive. I was alive, I was alive, I was so alive…

_No,_ Dan would whisper._ Why can't you just leave me alone?_

_Why didn't you go with her? _And then Gabe would sing:

'_Cause I'm holding on_

Next, Dan would cry: _Let me go!_

Gabe: _And I won't let go!_

Dan: _Let me go – _

Both: _I just thought you should know – _

_That I am the one who loved you – _

_I am the one who cried_

_I am the one_

_Who watch while you died!_

_Yeah – yeah – yeah! _

_I am the one who loved you!_

_I tried pretending that I _

_Don't give a damn!_

And then, the music cuts you. It cuts you and…and Gabe stands, trembling. His voice quakes. He gulps, fighting back tears. Alone, he keeps it together as best he can, and sings:

_But you've always known who I am!_

She watched me die, all these years. I look at her now and I see that. She held her tongue through all the birthdays, all the Christmases, all those shows and recitals. She'd never see me again, she hoped, because this notion would keep me perfect – keep me unsoiled by her imperfection. Dan didn't make eye contact _once _with Gabe until the second-to-last scene. Not once. He would tell himself that Gabe was never there, that his one responcibilty was to be loyal to Diana – to get her better, to get her well again…to get Gabe away for good. To personally take his son to those golden gates and demand to Saint Peter that his boy go in straight away. He would not look at Gabe, and Gabe would no longer exist. He was dead. His son was dead, and if he did not think about him, did not remember him, did not long to hold him again – to teach him to catch a football, to stay up late at night studying with him, to give him advice on girls… – then he'd fade. He'd fade, he'd fade into a nothing…and he'd never crawl into Dan's or Diana's minds ever again.

But there was a flaw in Dan's plan.

Gabe was there. Always, always there. He watched, unseen, and waited – waited, watching _that girl _replace him, watching his mother get medicated to stop seeing him, watching his father do everything to forget him. He was unwanted – _dead_. Gabe watched – he watched his family fall apart at the seams. His mother wasn't his mother anymore. His father…his father projected _hatred _for him. And this girl – _Natalie_, his _sister_ – she didn't even _know _him. And so, Gabe watched. He died. He watched Dan die. His father was slowly numbing his pain with the inability to grieve. But he watched each family member start to feel, each one of them falling apart, slowly, and forming themselves together again, built on a new foundation – _light_…

Oh – oh, _no_…

_Beth_.

Little, innocent Beth. No, no – she can't be Natalie. She can't be. I won't let her be. She can't be the replacement, the perfect plan in order to forget about the unplanned perfection. She can't be the invisible girl – the one who is forgotten about in order for her parents to forget the unforgotten. She was innocent. Completely innocent. There was nothing she could do to get out of this position – to fly far away from here. And Gabe _hated _Natalie. He _hated _her – she was his replacement. But he'd tell himself that she wasn't there – no, better yet, he'd tell _her _that! Yes – he'd tell her, he'd tell her until it's all she'd ever hear. _She's not there – she's not there – she's not there_…

_Beth_, I thought, looking at the sweet little girl as she closed her eyes in sleep. _You're not invisible. You're not Natalie. You're _there_, Beth! You're there. Don't ever think you're not. _And…her. Shelby. My mother. My Gabe's Dan. She sat there in this sorrowful silence, enduring all this pain along with me. I got up from where I was sitting, and hugged her tightly, tears rolling down my cheeks and hers.

"Rach. _Rachel_."

"Hi, Mom."

**Only about three chapters left! Review! :)**


	27. Nick Of Time

**Listening to demos of Jenn Damiano's angel voice = inspiration! :) So only this is the third-to-last chapter, you guys! :( But never fear – the sequel will be here right when this story is finished, and it'll be called **_**Crazy Is Perfect**_**. This chapter (and the next and last, I think) features special guest stars! Get ready, Broadway fangirls! :) I have a snow day tomorrow (on Halloween! As I'm typing this it's, like, midnight so I guess I should say **_**today**_**) so I'll have the day free and I'll try to update while I can! **

**Also, I am sad. I just heard the news. Get ready, Jenn fans – hold onto your hats. …Ready? Okay: Jennifer Damiano will be performing her **_**last **_**show of **_**Spider-man: Turn Off The Dark **_**on November 6****th****. :O ! :'-C Any word on why the sudden leave? I sure hope she's got another show lined up – if she just disappears from Broadway for a while I will miss her like **_**crazy**_**! Well, anyway, remember please: review! Thanks and enjoy.**

"…_I guess you could say I just followed my heart. Wow, that was cheesy. But it's true._" – Jennifer Damiano [on her Broadway career]

_Chapter Twenty-Four_

_Finn's POV_

We all boarded the extra-large bus early that morning, everyone roaring to go. Even though BOTGCs seemed stupid and pointless before, somehow this year it looked like it was going to be a lot of…fun. And we'd win, either way, because we'd preform to the best of our abilities…no more slacking off, no more cutting corners. Not anymore. Although…I really wish Rachel could go on with us, you know? We were going to sing _Hey 3 _from_ Next To Normal _– it was supposed to special, not just for the club but also for _us_, like one final, last hurrah. But…that's okay, I guess, there'll be other times for final, last hurrahs…

It was the classic, club-transportation school bus scene – everyone was sprawled out on the seats, chattering about how excited they were and how great everything was going to be, and how well it would all work out. Rachel came down the aisle and sat next to me, Kurt and Blaine – who wasn't preforming, but just ended up coming along due to Kurt's convincing skills – were behind us with Quinn and Puck to our right. Oh yeah. This was gonna be good.

"Okay, guys," Mr. Schue said from the front of the bus. "It's now or never."

He was right. It was do or die. Now or never. This competition might not be official but it means more to us then Regionals. I look at Rachel and I know I that to be true. The ride was fairly long – about an hour-and-a-half, maybe a little more – and we spent the entire time talking, laughing, telling stories together. There were pictures that'll surely end up on _Facebook_, and tweets being tweeted left and right. Mr. Schue was right when he said the bus ride was one of the best parts about a competition.

When we arrived, we were all pretty amazed – it wasn't just a cookie-cutter, built-in-one-day stage like we were expecting, but an actual inside arena that was probably used for concerts and stuff. Wow, the BOTGCs people stepped it up this year! There were posters all around us for acts that had preformed in the Columbus arena; there were even people lined up near us to be talent-scouted. We signed in at a booth and all got lanyards with passes on them, feeling like VIPs. Once we were all checked in, we could leave the arena and do whatever we placed until our call time, and it was a unanimous decision to go get some food. There was a _McDonald's _right around the corner, so walking there was the best solution.

"Be careful about how much you eat right before competitions," Rachel warned. "Not good for the reflux." We both laughed, smiling at each other.

"Alright, we're all signed in," Mr. Schuster said. "Now, you guys can do what you want as long as we all meet back here before call time. Meghann's going to stick with those of you who want to go eat, or want to get out of here, and I'm staying here to deal with paperwork. Anyone who wants to help me fill it out, feel free!" None of us did. "Okay – but remember, meet back right here at call time, or we'll have to go on without you!"

The _McDonald's _was going to be like our hangout spot for those couple of hours, or so we planned. Puck ordered a _McRib _and demanded that Santana take a big, heaping bite out of it – she complained that if she did, she'd have to chug at least five Sue-Sylvester-Master-Cleanses, even if Brittany _did _add a teaspoon of sand. Eventually, people started throwing fries at each other, and drinking other people's milkshakes and sodas…it was the full-on, we're-a-team-and-we're-a-family experience.

"_Ahem_…" Amidst all the fry-throwing and shake-stealing, a new figure appeared through the double-doors of Mickey-D's. _Jesse St. James_. We whipped around to look at him; his eyes were stuck on Rachel like she was a bulls-eye. "Rachel Berry?" He asked, even though he knew very well who she was. One look at me, and Rachel knew how to react.

"Yes?" She asked professionally, standing up to shake Jesse's outstretched hand. "And you are?"

"Jesse St. James," he said as if he were about to take out a business card. "When I heard you'd be here with these…these_ novices_, I didn't want to believe it! Believe me, I'm a big fan of your work."

"Well…thank you," she said.

"So – why don't you come with me and we can have a little chat about…priorities. My team would love to – "

" – You're out of line, don't ya' think?" I demanded, standing up. "You can't just come in here and think you can – "

" – Excuse me, I don't think this is any of your business, _Finn_," Jesse retorted.

"Actually, it _is_," I said through my bared teeth. "Anything that's Rachel's business is _my _business. Read my lips, pretty boy – _back off_."

After a few inaudible words of protest, Jesse left with his tail between his legs. In two more second, we were outside, at Rachel's suggestion to 'go for a walk'.

"You do know you can't always be there to do that, right?" She asked almost meekly.

"What are talking about?"

"With Jesse. I could have handled that on my own," she said, looking up a bit. "And I'm glad you wanted to put him in his place, but Finn, I'm leaving in a couple of days. Our relationship will literally be reduced to _Skype _and texting and phone calls, not including visits. There's going to be times when you _can't _stand up for me, when you _can't _protect me. You have to know that I'm a big girl, Finn, and I can take care of myself."

"I know that," I said. "But _you_ have to know that whenever I can, I _will _protect you. In whatever way I can."

"Good," she smiled big, showing all of her pretty white teeth. "That's what I like to hear. Oh and…you're not going to like this."

"Like what?" I asked, my eyes widening on reflex.

"Well…" she hesitated. "You're going to have to be cool with me kissing other guys on stage. You know that, right? Natalie and Henry kiss a lot, sort of…"

"Yeah, I know that," I said. "But that doesn't mean I'm cool with it. Can I deal with it? Yes. Am I cool with it? No."

"But Adam is – "

" – Like your big brother. I know. You've told me. That still doesn't make me cool with another dude's lips on your face." Then in another second, she wrapped her arms around me and said:

"You're too perfect."

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

As most of the New Directions went to hang out at the _McDonald's _around the corner, Kurt saw no attraction in greasy fried food, so he convinced Blaine to stay at the arena with him and check out the talent-scouting that was going on. It looked pretty cool, pretty professional – but he wasn't sure what it was for.

"Next!" A strong voice called, and the line got shorter and shorter, Kurt's interest growing larger and larger. Of course, Rachel had pretty much guaranteed Broadway for him, so the boy was feeling pretty confident in his talents now a' days. Why not see what all the buzz was about? At the talent-scout table sat three people, resembling _American Idol _judges. Kurt didn't know exactly who they were, but they looked familiar enough…he just couldn't put his finger on it. The first was a Latina woman with 'diva-curled' hair; the second was a dashing, Fiyero-from-_Wicked_ type guy, and the third…the third judge he just _knew _he'd seen before. She was gorgeous – drop-dead gorgeous, with long, silky dark hair and piercing, sea-foam green eyes. Her lips were like Cupid's strongest bow, plump and red, moist with the hunger for…something. Kurt wasn't quite sure. Laid down on the table in front of the three judges was a…Playbill. A _Broadway _Playbill! Wow, this was really something!

"Next!" The third judge called, her voice like an angel's.

"Hi there," Kurt said, standing in front of them. "I'm Kurt Hummel, and, I'm sorry to ask, but I know I've seen you before…"

"No problem, Kurt," said the middle, male judge. "I'm Darren Ritchie, and this is Janet Dacal," he motioned to the first judge; she waved. "And Kate Shindle."

_Oh my God_… Kurt thought. This wasn't just some cookie-cutter, Ohio talent-scouting…no, this was a Broadway tour-scouting, where the principle members of new shows scour capitals and major cities looking for anyone who can fill the gaps in their casts. _This was the real deal!_

"Haven't I seen you before?" Kate Shindle asked him. _Kate Shindle…Kate Shindle…_ Kurt thought. _Ohmigod you guys – Legally Blonde: The Musical!_

"I believe I should be asking _you _that question…" Kurt tried to keep calm.

"_Oh_! I _got _it!" She exclaimed. "You worked with Molly Ranson, Matt Doyle and Rachel Berry, didn't you? Didn't you work on that all-star recording for _Carrie_? You're tight with Rachel Berry, right? She told _everyone who's anyone _about working with you!"

"Well, I didn't technically – well…" Really, Kurt hadn't _worked _on it; he just sat in for the _Skype _chats with Rachel, and Rachel being Rachel she had convinced Molly to convince the people in charge to put Kurt's name on it, too… "Yes, yes I did."

The three cast-mates looked at each other. Their hard work had paid off.

"Kurt, was it?" Janet asked. "I think you might just be the answer to our prayers."

"Wait!" The third judge, Kate, declared, standing up. She walked around Kurt as if he were a horse she was going to buy.

"Katie, please," said Darren Ritchie. "We've been at this for weeks! The kid's got the resume, he's got the pull, he's got _Rachel Berry _on his side for God's sake – what more do you want?"

"One thing you should know about me," she said, looking straight into Kurt's eyes, ignoring Darren's words. "I don't take _anything _lightly. I do _everything _110%. Now – I like you, Kurt. I want to give you this chance. But that doesn't mean you don't have to prove yourself to me. So…will you sing with me?" For some reason, Kurt found, Kate Shindle was like a paralysis.

"S-sing with…_you_? Of course."

"Great," she said, handing him a piece of sheet music. It read: _Wonderland _– _Nick Of Time_. There was a big _X _next to it, meaning that the song had been cut from the show. _Aw_… Kate started the song, giving Kurt a beat with her hand tapping her side. She sang:

"_Right now is the nick of time – _

_If you're gonna get it better get with the getting_

_Right now is the nick of time – _

_Let tomorrow worry 'bout the things that your sweatin'_

_Grab it quick or the nick of time will be gone!_

_This time I'm gonna get it all, gonna get it all, gonna take the palace_

_All in – gonna bet it all, gonna bet it all, gonna ace that Alice!_

_This time gonna get it all, gonna get it all, better watch me, I'm the Hatter!_

_I'm all done with crumbs from the table – _

_I'm gonna get it all right now_

_They all better run away better run away – _

_This time gonna get it all, gonna bet it all, gonna finally win it!_

_This time gonna get it all, gonna get it all, gonna watch them scatter!_

_I'll be wearin' all of my hats out_

_And I'll be struttin' in style 'cause – _

_Right now is the nick of time!_

_If you're gonna get it, better get with the getting 'cause – _

_Right now is the nick of time!_

_Let tomorrow worry bout the things that you're sweatin' _

_Grab it quick or the nick of time will be gone!_" She mouthed 'your turn' at Kurt and he sang:

"_Don't wait for another day, for another day – I could use the momentum – _

_Right now is the only way, is the only way, to surprise them and then some!_

_This time, gonna fool them all, gonna fool them all, so it doesn't matter – _

_Keep pretendin' I'm good and loyal to the Hatter – _

_Until I lower the boom!_

_The Queen doesn't realize, doesn't realize, that she's gonna toss her!_

_I work with alotta spies, got alotta eyes, gonna double cross her!_

_Who knew there's a minister, quite as sinister, as the pushy Hatter? _

_She wont even know when its coming_

_I'm too hip for the room –_

_Quick – it's tick, tick, boom! _

_Grab it quick or the nick of time will be gone!_

_I'm closer than ever I almost can taste it_

_Its now or its never I'm not gonna waste it_

_The clock keeps on tikin' its half past before – _

_I'm not gonna wait even second more!_

_Right now is the nick of time!_

_If you're gonna get it, better get with the getting – _

_Right now is the nick of time!_

_Let tomorrow worry 'bout the things that your sweatin' – _

_Grab it quick or the nick of time will be gone!_" Then together, Kurt and Kate sang the chorus:

"_Right now is the nick of time!_

_If you're gonna get it, better get with the getting – _

_Right now is the nick of time!_

_Let tomorrow worry 'bout the things that your sweatin' – _

_Grab it quick or the nick of time will be gone!_"

Then, Kate Shindle did something unexpected – she wrapped Kurt in a big, loving hug.

"Kurt Hummel," she whispered in his ear. "Welcome to _Wonderland_!"

**Wow that took two days to finish because of power outages! Next chapter: some much-missed **_**Next To Normal **_**stars and a few **_**other **_**Broadway people make appearances! I'll give you a hint: these guys can **_**fly**_**! So…review?**


	28. Light

**And so we are at the second-to-last chapter. The performance chapter! Lyrics are at the bottom. :) So yeah, be prepared for the sequel to be uploaded after this story is finished; it'll be called **_**Crazy Is Perfect**_**. Get ready Broadway fangirls – more guest stars in this chapter! :D Remember to review, I'd love to break 150 in these two chapters that are left if that's possible! Thanks and enjoy.**

Natalie: "_Well, going home has never solved any of _my _problems_."

Henry: "_But Nat – that's what you've got me for!_"

_Chapter Twenty-Five_

_Rachel's POV_

Excitement. Momentum. Enthusiasm. Drive. Incentive. Inspiration. Motivation. I'm not a mind reader, but I'm sure this is what everyone was thinking about, what everyone was feeling. The competition had begun.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The MC called. "Welcome to Battle of the Glee Clubs, two-thousand-and-eleven!" The crowd cheered at the MC's beckoning called, a mob full of _whoop_'sand _yeah_'s. "We ready to get this party started?" Cue more overly obnoxious noise from the crowd. "Yeah? Then let's get it started!" The roaring faded as we all ducked backstage.

"Okay guys," Mr. Schue said, the team now surrounded by cushy-looking couches, a coffee maker, a water cooler, and a bowl of fruit. "We're third up, so – "

" – We're going on last?" Santana demanded, her eyes ablaze.

"That's not actually a bad thing!" Meghann said, trying to sooth the Latina girl. "It's good to go first of last."

"That's right," I added. "It's always best to go first or last – if you're first, then everyone has to measure up to you, and if you're last, then you're freshest in the judges' minds!"

"Excuse me…" we all turned around to see Jesse St. James walking into our backstage place, Sunshine Corazon following behind him like a silent, scared little lamb. "We just wanted to wish you luck," he said, smirking. "May the best glee club win."

"What's your motive?" Meghann asked, with a smirk equal in heat to Jesse's, as he started to walk out with Sunshine. They whipped back around he asked:

"Motive? _Motive_? What are you implying by…_oh_." He then realized just who he was talking to. "Meghann Fahy. How…_interesting _that you'd be with…_them_…" the fact that both Meg _and _me were with New Directions and not Jesse's glee club was _killing _him. He adjusted his voice, but that didn't keep it from cracking as he tried and failed to form words.

"I asked you, _what _is your _motive_?" Meg demanded, standing up and walking up to him. "I've known this business long enough to know types like you. You've got something up your sleeve, I can feel it." She looked back at me and I nodded in agreement. Jesse just smiled before pushing Sunshine on the stage has we heard the MC boom:

"And now, from Akron, Ohio, four-time National champions – _Vocal Adrenaline_!" Jesse disappeared into the wings as we all angled our heads to see the beaming, full-to-capacity-size show choir step out – perfectly choreographed, of course – on stage. All of their outfits were shades of purple, and Sunshine walked as her glee club parted like the Red Sea so she could get up to the microphone. She adjusted it to her height and sang:

"_Do you wake up in the morning and need help to lift your head?_

_Do you read obituaries and feel jealous of the dead?_

_It's like living on a cliff side, not knowing when you'll dive – _

_Do you know – do you know – what it's like to die alive? _…"

Meghann, Kurt and I gasped.

"What?" Puck asked. "What'd those weasels do now?"

"That's _You Don't Know / I Am The One_," I said gravely. "They're doing _Next To Normal_."

"They're using our secret weapon _against _us," Meg whispered.

"I should've known they'd pull something like this!" Finn yelled, banging his fist down on a table. "When I get my hands on that Jesse St. _Jackass _I'm swear to God I'm gonna – "

"Never fear!" An all-too-familiar voice boomed. Meghann shot me a huge smile, and in an instant I knew why. "Your saviors are here!" I turned around and, yes, there they were. My boys. Aaron and Adam.

"Surprise!" Meg giggled as they screamed my name and washed me away in their sea of hug-attacks.

"Double surprise!" Adam seconded.

"Triple surprise!" Aaron added.

"You…but…how?" I was able to get out.

"We wanted to see you preform!" Aaron said giddily. "That is, _without us_, this time."

"And you know we were _miserable _without _both _our invisible girls!" Adam laughed. "And Alice is here too, she's just a little busy yelling at some dude who can't pull off the curly look…"

"Jesse St. James? _Alice Ripley _is yelling at _Jesse St. James_? That's too perfect! Oh my God I missed you guys _so much_!" We group-hugged again. "But…you said you wanted to see me preform. I can't preform, I'm a professional and – "

" – Meg filled us in," Aaron said. "So you _really_ think an Ohio show choir board wouldn't make an exception when four _Broadway stars _filed a complaint? Adam, Meg, Alice and I can be _very _convincing! Well…mostly _Alice_, but what can ya' do?"

"You…" I looked at Meghann, at a loss for words. "Why…why didn't you tell me…?"

"I was going to," she said with a shrug. "But I thought it'd be better if these guys did!"

"Oh, get over here!" I called to her, and the four of us cast-mates group-hugged a third time. "Oh my God – _Finn_!" I took him by the hand and dragged him other to Adam and Aaron when our hug-fest had temporarily ended. "This is – "

" – Finn Hudson, m' I right?" said Aaron, shaking Finn's hand. "Aaron Tveit. I'm alive. Also, sometimes I'm pilot. And if you hurt my baby sister here, I'll murder you and make it look like an accident."

"…Good to know…" was Finn's hesitant response.

"And I'm Adam Chanler-Beret," Adam introduced himself with his own handshake. "I don't own emotion, I rent. And I _will_ hide the murder weapon…along with your body, and – "

" – _Okay_!" I interrupted. "Now we've all met! Let's try to keep it _without _the manslaughter threats, okay?"

"Um, it's great you guys are having a big 'the-cast's-back-together' reunion and all," It was Santana, of course. "But what are we going to do here?"

"Rachel," Mr. Schue said, coming over to me. "I'd hate to ask this of you, but…you can save us here with _Superboy And The Invisible Girl_…"

"Mr. Schue, if I do the number normally it'll blend in with Vocal Adrenaline…_wait_." I stopped, my mind whirling. "Guys," I turned to my cast members. "Do you remember when we preformed some numbers in Bryant for the _Broadway in Bryant Park_ benefit?" They nodded, automatically knowing just what I meant. "Remember the acoustic version of _Superboy _we did?"

"It'd be a stretch, seeing as you haven't preformed the number in that tone or key since the benefit…" Meghann reasoned. "But I think you could do it, Rach. You'd still need a straight-up ballad, though – "

" – _Hey 3 / Perfect For You (Reprise)_," Finn said, speaking up.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Rach," he said. "It's our song."

"Actually," said Adam, butting in. "It's _Natalie and Henry's _song. But that'll work fine."

"And the group number?" Tina and Quinn asked together.

"I've got it, you guys," said Mr. Schuster. "Everyone huddle up!" And the game plan was set, and we were ready, with fifteen minutes to spear.

"Aaron," I said to him. "Can you teach Kurt Gabe's part?"

"Really?" Kurt asked, his voice full of excitement.

"Really," I said with a wink.

"Go kill it!" Blaine whispered supportively in Kurt's ear. "I'll be right here when you get back."

"Alright you guys!" Meg called everyone in, and once everyone's hands were in, Mr. Schue shouted:

"New Directions on three!"

"One, two, three…_New Directions_!"

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Finn and I were in back, ready to enter from the audience. The metaphorical current was about to go up – it was almost show time.

"Break a leg," I said.

"I love you."

And the music started. The doors opened, the spotlights hit us. Finn walked down the far left aisle, and I walked down the far right, making us on opposite sides of arena. The spotlights followed our journeys to the stage, leaving a trail of the blindingly-bright beams. Finn started off the ballad:

"_Hey_,"

"_Hey_," I started singing, and I heard a distinct cheer ring out – it had to be Alice.

"_You look like a star_

_A vision in blue_ _– _"

" – _Oh, I do?_"

"_And you are – _

_Hey, you came!_"

"_Well, I said that I might._"

"_I thought we were through – _

_Me and you._"

"_Not tonight_."

The music picked up a bit, and we crossed paths in the middle of the mob of people as Finn continued:

"_Will your mom be okay?_"

"_Well, she might be,_

_Some day_."

"_But for now it's all fine?_"

"_She's still on my mind_."

"_Can you leave it behind, and stay?_

_Let's see this thing through!_" Then I sang the lyric that always get me by the heartstrings:

"_Am I crazy? _

_I might end up crazy!_"

"_I'll be here for you!_"

"_You say that right here – _

_But then give it a year,_

_Or ten years, or a life – _

_I could end up your wife – _

_Sitting, staring at walls,_

_Throwing shit down the stairs,_

_Freaking out at the store,_

_Running nude down the street,_

_Bleeding out in the bath –_"

" – _Shhh_!" He interrupted, just like he was supposed to. Just like I knew he would. Then, he sang:

"_Perfect for you,_

_I will be perfect you._

_So you could go crazy,_

_Or I could go crazy,_

_It's true._

_Sometimes life is insane – _

_But crazy,_

_I know I can do._

'_Cause crazy is perfect,_

_And fucked up is perfect,_

_So I will be perfect_."

"_Perfect_." And together, we harmonized:

"_Perfect for you!_"

Everyone clapped and roared as we stepped up onto the stage, the New Directions appearing behind us. Finn stepped back while Quinn and Kurt stepped forward, forming a triangle with me.

"_Superboy and the invisible girl –_

_Son of steal and daughter of air_

_He's a hero, a lover, a prince,_

_She's not there!_

_Super and the invisible girl –_

_Everything a kid oughtta be_

_He's immortal, forever alive –_

_Then there's me._

_I wish I could fly,_

_And magically appear and disappear._

_I wish I could fly –_

_I'd fly far away from here!_

_Superboy and the invisible girl –_

_He's the one you wish would appear!_

_He's your hero, your savior, your son –_

_He's not here!_

_I am here!_ – "

"_You know that's not true,_" Quinn sang.

"_You're our little pride and joy,_

_Our perfect plan!_

_You know I love you – _

_I love you as much as I can!_" And again I sang:

"_Take a look at the invisible girl –_

_Here she is – clear as the day!_

_Please look closely and find her before –_

_She fades away!_" With Kurt now:

"_Superboy and the invisible girl –_

_Son of steal and daughter of air_

_He's a hero, a lover, a prince –_

_She's not there!_

_She's not there!_

_She's not there!_

_She's not there!_"

More applause from the crowd, and as I looked down I could make out a few faces. There was Alice Ripley, the mother I had always had and never had to work for. Next to her was a beaten-looking Jesse St. James. Meghann, Adam, Aaron and Mr. Schue stood on Alice's other side, smiling and cheering. Then, on the other side of the audience completely, I noticed three figures – one was a rocker-ish-looking guy, who looked about Aaron or Adam's age. He had bristly, mocha-brown hair and Finn's half-smile. Next to him was a girl who looked like an older version of Tina, with dramatic makeup and high boots. Both of them looked…pleased. _Gleeful_, even. Next to them, though, was a woman who looked like she was in her fifties. She had flat, almost life-less brown hair, and eyes that were anything but. Her eyes were amber, almost like mine, and they seemed to tell two stories – the woman looked as if she wasn't there, like her mind was in another time zone, on another planet completely, and yet…she appeared to be the most attentive, level, and focused person in the building. And as the stage-lights roved and lit up, they were gone – just black figures like everyone else in the crowd. And so, I sang:

"_We need some light._

_First of all, we need some light._

_You can't sit here in the dark._

_And all alone, it's a sorry sight._

_It's just you and me._

_We'll live, you'll see._"

Puck: _Night after night,_

_We'd sit and wait for the morning light._

_But we've waited far too long,_

_For all that's wrong to be made right – _

Quinn: _Day after day,_

_Wishing all our cares away._

Tina: _Trying to fight the things we feel,_

_But some hurts never heal._

Tina and Quinn: _Some ghost are never gone,_

_But we go on,_

_We still go on._

Santana and Brittany: _And you find some way to survive – _

_And you find out you don't have to be happy at all,_

_To be happier alive._

Rachel: _Day after day,_

_Give me clouds, and rain and gray._

_Give me pain, if that's what's real._

Finn and Rachel: _It's the price we pay to feel!_

Sam and Mercedes: _The price of love is loss,_

_But still we pay – _

_We love anyway!_

Kurt: _And when the night has finally gone,_

_And when we see the new day dawn – _

_We'll wonder how we wandered for so long, _

_So blind!_

_The wasted world we thought we knew – _

_The light will make it look brand new,_

_So – _

All New Directions: _Let it _

_Let it_

_Let it_

_Let it_

_Let it_

_Shine, shine, shine!_

_Day after day (day after day),_

_We'll find the will to find our way!_

_Knowing that the darkest skies _

_Will someday see the sun!_

Mike: _When our long night is done, _

Finn, Rachel, Quinn and Puck: _There will be light!_

All New Directions: _There will be light!_

_When we open up our lives – _

_Sons and daughters, husbands, wives._

_And fight that fight – _

_There will be light!_

_There will be light._

_There will be light._

_There will be…_

_Light!_

**So only one chapter left! Anyone know the unnamed guest stars in this chapter? Remember, they can fly! :) Also, in the next (and last) chapter, there will be a **_**very **_**special guest star, someone I personally love and admire! :) So…review? Remember, I'd **_**love **_**to get to 150! :)**


	29. And There Was Nothing More To Be Said

**Wow, it's really hard for me to type this. Out of all the stories I've written for this website, this one has by far been the most enjoyable. Thank you to everyone whose stuck with it from the very beginning – I do hope you'll sick with me for the sequel, **_**Crazy Is Perfect**_**. I've just turned on the TV and **_**The Wizard Of Oz **_**is on…Judy Garland is singing **_**Somewhere Over The Rainbow **_**and I'm crying…oh, God. As I am writing this author's note, it is November 6****th****, 2011. Jennifer Damiano's last night as Mary Jane Watson, and the last night I am writing an author's note for **_**Close Enough To Normal**_**. So, I thank all of you as sincerely as I can, especially those of you who've reviewed and helped me along the way with this story, especially my new friend cArLySTAR15. This isn't over, dear readers – it's only the beginning. **_**Crazy Is Perfect **_**will be posted before you know it! :) So, for the last time in **_**Close Enough To Normal**_**, thanks and enjoy. **

"_I don't need a life that's normal – that's way too far away. But something next to normal could be okay. Yes, something next to normal, that's the thing I'd like to try – close enough to normal to get by…We'll get by._" – Natalie Goodman

_Chapter Twenty-Six_

_Rachel's POV_

_Flight 12345 – nonstop from Columbus, Ohio, to New York, New York – now boarding._

"So I guess this is it," said Finn, standing there with me at the gate. The sign changed from '_at the gate_' to '_boarding_' and so the lady in the flight attendant-ish uniform at the front desk would be announcing it soon.

"Guess so." Silence. "Finn…"

"Don't. Don't say goodbye. This isn't goodbye. You see this?" He whipped out his cell phone. "I'll talk to you every day and every night until your sick of me!"

"I'll be home for Christmas," I said. "When's Kurt coming up?"

"Soon," Finn said. "Burt wanted to give him some extra time to prepare – he's moving in with his friend Kate, and it's the first time he'll be away from home, and…"

"I know this must be stressful for him, but I know Katie. She'll take care of him. He'll be fine. The boy's going to Broadway. He'll be fine."

"What about you?" Finn asked. "Are you going to be fine…without me?"

"No," I answered honestly. "I won't be fine…I'll miss you every day. But the price of love is loss…"

"And still we pay, we love anyway." He smiled at me, that sweet little half smile of his, and he kissed me until we both had to come up for air. "I love you," he said. "I'll never love anyone else the way I love you."

"That's funny," I said. "You took the words right out of my mouth."

"Flight 12345, nonstop from Ohio to New York City, now boarding!" The lady declared. I fumbled for my boarding pass and gave Finn one last sorrowful, parting look. Another kiss, another hug, another promise. They'd have to last…they'd all have to last, all the times from now until we'd first met this summer. At least until the holidays. But I wouldn't forget any of them, any of the memoires, because he was my Henry and I was his Natalie – and no matter what, through craziness, through fear, through darkness…they'd always find light.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Seat 11B is where I'd stay for the next hour-and-a-half. Once my carry-on-bag was underneath the seat in front of me, I took out my phone before I had to turn it off for take off, and there were fours text messages –

_Natalie, so glad you're coming back home! _It was from Aaron's phone. _See you soon, invisible girl! Love your ghost brother Gabe, your boyfriend Henry, your mother Diana, your father Dan, and your mother's 'phychopharmicaligist', Dr.'s Madden/Fine, and their double gangers!_

_Rach-y! Can't wait 'til we're all roomies! Ahhh! So excited! :D Can't wait 'til you get here! Love ya'! _It was from Meghann's phone, but was signed: _Meg, K, Jo-Jo, Annaleigh, Mol, and Laura_. Meghann Fahy, Krysta Rodriguez, Josefina Scaglione, Annaleigh Ashford, Molly Ranson, and Laura Osnes – my new roommates. Another family to be a part of.

_Rachel, _It was from my dads. _Good luck, honey! We love you! Now go make your dreams come true!_

And the best for last: _Rachel, I'm sorry for all the times I wasn't there. But I promise you I will be now. Whenever you need me, I'm there. I'm so, so proud of you, and I love you so much. Always. _And it was signed: _Mom_.

"Excuse me?"

I looked up from my phone with a start to see the girl who must've had the ticket to seat 11A, right next to me. She was pretty, _really _pretty, actually, with long, red-ish-brown hair and big, warm-brown eyes. She looked at me like she knew me…and I had the weirdest feeling that I knew her, too…but I didn't just _know _her, no – it was more then that. It like our stars had crossed paths before…like she was here because I was here, and I was here because she was here. It was an odd, but also amazing feeling of which I almost can't describe – but it was there, without a doubt. And I knew in that second that I had known this girl, and she had known me – maybe not consciously, maybe not here, not now…but somewhere. Maybe in another life, on another planet, in another time, another space, another world. In a world where Natalie Goodman was the real person, and I was just the character…because I knew now this was not the world I lived in. She did not control me – I controlled her.

"Oh, um," I bit my lip. "Sorry. Is this your seat?"

"Uh, no, it's fine," she said perfectly. "Your fine. It's just…do I know you? I feel like…like…" the girl hesitated. "This is gonna sound weird," she said, "but it feels like I know you, and…you know what? That's crazy. I'm Jenn, by the way."

"Rachel."

"Going to New York, Rachel? Best place in the world."

"You can say that again," I said, laughing. "I'm going back home, actually. What brings you to the Empire State?"

"Oh, I don't know…" Jenn said almost dreamily. "To chase my dream, to fall in love, to have that perfect, fairy-tale ending…all of the above, I guess. I know, I know, sounds crazy, right? But like I always say, crazy is perfect."

And there was nothing more to be said.

**And now it's Nov. 7****th****, 2011, 9:35 pm and I have finished the story I've gotten the most joy out of writing. Sequel with be posted ASAP! :) And for the last time, review please! :)**


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